My New Blog, Where To Find Me, And How To Contact Me

If you read this blog or if you liked this blog, when it was alive, then I think you’ll like my new blog.
Check out my new blog: Forwrrrd
Forwrrrd is an activism, DIY, equal rights, feminism, human rights, riot grrrl, and women’s rights blog. If anybody wants to contribute something to the blog, email me: grrrlsvomitcandy@hotmail.com with the subject “blog” or “contribute”. Contributions must be activism, diy, equal rights, feminism, human rights, riot grrrl, and/or women’s rights focused. Any and all contributions will be appreciated and credited. Thanks!

Here are some websites I can be found on:
Riot Grrrl Online Website (RGO) link #1 or RGO link #2 or RGO link #3
Riot Grrrl Online News/Updates Page
Riot Grrrl Online Forum
Riot Grrrl Online Social Network
Free @riotgrrrl.co.uk Email Address
Riot Grrrl Chat
Riot Grrrl Online Updates and Other Riot Grrrl/Feminism Stuff
Riot Grrrl Online LiveJournal Community
Riot Grrrl Online Last.fm Group
Riot Grrrl Online on Myspace
Riot Grrrl Online Group on Myspace
Riot Grrrl Online Mailing List
Riot Grrrl Online on MyBlogLog

Here are some social networks I can be found on:
Care2
Delicious
DeviantArt
Digg
Last.fm
LiveJournal
Myspace
TakingItGlobal
Technorati
Twitter
Wikipedia
Windows Live Spaces

You can also email me, but just remove the NOSPAM part of the email address.

Feel free to email me: links, riot grrrl chapters, information, articles, submissions, contributions, etc. for the Riot Grrrl Online website or for the Forwrrrd Blog. Thanks!

Feminism Friday: Interested In A Feminism Forum?

Since this is a feminism blog, I thought I’d post it. I posted this in my _feminism Livejournal Commmunity.

What does everyone think of the idea of having a feminism forum? The forum would be about feminism, the many different types of feminism, will be for discussion of ALL types of feminism, discussion of women’s rights, discussion of women’s studies, etc. Yes, I am very aware that livejournal, myspace, last.fm, etc. have groups or coumminities as forums for feminism, however, there are more people interested in feminism out there that are not on those websites. If I get enough heads up for the idea, I will make the forum. If I don’t get many replies to this post, then I will NOT make the forum.

I am thinking of using proboards or invisionfree for the forum provider. If anyone is interested in helping me out with the forum: layout, ideas, or being a moderator on the forum, Please let me know by replying to this post. Also, The forum will be discussed by email, so if you really want to help out or be a moderator, please leave your email address in a reply to this post OR you can email me here: grrrlsvomitcandy at hotmail dot com Thanks!

cosmo sucks

today on the ever amazing postsecret the following secret was posted:

i’m sure we can all related to this person.  i find standing in line at a checkout to be a disheartening experience as i am faced with painfully airbushed celebrities and headlines such as:
“Guy Tested – Little Touches He’ll Love You More For” (cosmo may ’08)
“Is Your Skin Aging Too Fast?” (marie claire ’08)
“Don’t Get Spitzered – Understanding Men Who Stray” (elle june ’08) [what exactly is there to understand? how your failure to be perfect sent him straying?]

personally i think these magazines solely serve to perpetuate stereotypes surrounding “proper” feminine concerns…. either that or they are trying to further marginalize smart girls everywhere.

but fear not my grrrls because there are magazines who do speak to the feminists of the world!
☆ bitch magazine (“a feminist response to pop culture”) publishers quarterly and dissects popular women’s culture, including the aforementioned magazines, in an intelligent and fearless way. (wiki)
☆ bust (“a magazine for women with something to get off their chests”) is one of my all time favourite magazines (right up there with sassy!). it inspired me to learn how to knit – a feat my grandmother couldn’t accomplish in 20 years of trying! i feel that it’s geared to sex positive, crafty riot grrrls and it’s published bi-monthly. i’m currently saving my pennies for a subscription (i live in canada so it’s a bit more expensive), but if you live in the US a one year subscription is only $20! i’m sorry i sound like an ad but i seriously cannot say enough about my love for this mag. it truly fills the sassy void ♥ (wiki)
☆ ms. magazine is the first feminist reading i was ever exposed to. its been publishing since 1971 and is still the benchmark for all feminist journalism. it has truly paved the way for some amazing social change. for example, in 2006 they did an issue called “we had abortions” which contained abortion stories from women who were unashamed of their choice. it was amazing. the magazine currently publishes quarterly. (wiki)
☆ venus zine is a magazine i stumbled on when compiling the links for this post. according to wikipedia it was founded by a girl named amy schroeder “in her michigan state university dorm room as a freshman in 1995″. from what i’ve seen of the website and magazine so far i am in love. any magazine that has a front page headline that reads “Greatest Female Guitarists of All Time – Joan Jett, Sleater-Kinney’s Carrie Brownstein, Marnie Stern, Joni Mitchell, Kim Deal, Sister Rosetta Tharpe, and 40 more” is fine by me! (wiki)

now why am i pimping out these magazine to you readers?  because i strongly feel that we as grrrls should support magazines that represent us.  did you know that corporation that owns cosmo (hearst magazines) had revenues of $4.5 billion in 2006?  and that cosmo now has 3 tv networks (one of them being in my own canada)?

perpetuating female stereotypes is a HUGE business and its up to us to fight back.
start by supporting feminist magazines today! 

Taking It Global

Taking It Global is a social networking website. It is aimed at youth, but adults are also on the website. (such as myself) Taking It Global is an international non-profit organization located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. In alot of ways, It is like Care2, but it has more members than Care2.

I have a profile on there as grrrlriot. Feel free to add me on TakingItGlobal.

Here is some information about the website, taken from takingitglobal.org.

We’re an international non-profit organization headquartered in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, yet we connect youth around the world. TakingITGlobal provides a portal for young people to find inspiration, access information and get involved in improving their local and global communities.

Inspire
Young people have the energy, the desire and the skills to make a difference in the world. All that’s needed is a way of connecting with one another. TakingITGlobal’s position at the intersection of key global trends enables us to support young people in acting as a force for change today and into the future. Our Vision is of a world where young people are more engaged in their communities on local, national, and international levels. We provide the tools and the space for young people around the world to be heard. And those voices will, in turn, inspire more to speak.

Inform
Our world is increasingly global and interconnected. Many threats face our common humanity, such as global poverty, war and conflict, HIV/AIDS, and environmental degradation. TakingITGlobal provides access to the information required to understand and act on global issues. Our mission is to provide opportunities for learning, capacity-building, cross-cultural awareness and self-development through the use of Information and Communication Technologies. Because once you have the information, you can share it.

Involve
Young people are most powerful as co-owners in our own development process. That’s why TakingITGlobal is focused on encouraging involvement. By leveraging the power of social networks and digital media, we’ve created a tool for learning, collaboration, dialogue and action that is completely interactive.

Our flagship program, TakingITGlobal.org, has become the most popular online community for young people interested in connecting across cultures and making a difference. Hundreds of thousands of people visit the site each month to share their unique knowledge, perspectives and experiences.

Feminism Friday: I’m Sorry No I’m Not

This article was taken from my Riot Grrrl Online website.

I’m Sorry….No I’m Not

I’m sorry I don’t believe it.
I’m sorry that I care.
no i’m not.
I’m not sorry that i still believe we are capable of creating something. that i don’t think punk is just a big joke and that we should be little and make fun of ourselves for still believing that everything we do makes a difference
i don’t care that it’s no longer punk to have fun anymore. that it’s no longer punk to criticize the society we live in.
so
what if i keep talking about abolishing wage-slavery while i keep working. it fucking beats the hell out of writing songs or zines about how we are all hypocrites and all our actions are worthless.
we are all hypocritical superwimps (?). we are never (?)
SO IF YOU’RE BEING ALL PUNK AS FUCK AND TALKING SHIT ABOUT PEOPLE AT LEAST TRY TO DO SOMETHING THAN I’M (NOT) SORRY BUT I GUESS THAT MEANS I’M NOT PUNK ANYMORE AND IF THAT’S WHAT PUNK IS I’M FUCKIN GLAD I’M NOT AS PUNK AS YOU
[Kathleen]
I am a fucking idiot. I still think we can change the world.

Bikini Kill + Riot Grrrl

This articles comes from my Riot Grrrl Online website.

Bikini Kill + Riot Grrrl

one huge misconception for instance that has been repeated over and over again in magazines we have never spoken to and also by those who believe these sources without checking things out themselves is that bikini kill is the definitive ‘riot girl band’ . . . We are not in any way “leaders of” or authorities on the ‘Riot Girl’ movement. In fact, as individuals, we have each had different experiences with, feelings on, opinions of and varying degrees of involvement with ‘Riot Girl’ and tho we totally respect those who still feel that the label is important and meaningful to them, we have never used that term to describe ourselves AS A BAND. As, individuals we respect and utilize and subscribe to a variety of different aesthetics, strategies and beliefs, both political and punk-wise, some of which are probably considered ‘riot girl’ . . .
You can get back issues of Bikini Kill fanzines (issues #1 and #2) from riot girl press for $2 each. They are a girl run girl fanzine distribution network, write to them and send them $1 for their catalog which contains brief descriptions of stuff available thru them as well as info on how to get involved in what they’re doing. Please note that these fanzines are way outdated–both were made in 1991 and also that although both have contributions by other band members most of the stuff in them was written by our singer, kathleen, this is not to say they aren’t informative but rather to make an effort to posit them more exactly with regards to the factors of history and subjectivity . . . r.g.p. pob 73308/washington, d.c. 20009

Boy

This is another article from my Riot Grrrl Online website.

Boy

i will never be a rockstar.
i will never be rich.
i can’t take back my tenth birthday or the love i felt for you. there are no words for the hands that’re running all up with a liars veins, voice, words moist, so moist i believed. i believed that my best friends wouldn’t lie to me.
i will never be what the world wants me to be or have sex right. i will never open my door cuz in the eyes of the law it means i just spread open my legs and closed my eyes and said “c’mon in.” and i will never explain this to anyone i like cuz it’ll get used against me. the fact that i am not dead makes me an open target for murder. i swallowed your pride, i swallowed your heart, i swallowed your cum, guess that’s all part of it. there’s no justice and i’m really mad that people keep acting like there is. i don’t want to be a girl eaten up by your world, how can i watch girls eaten up by your world? how come i get hit and no one sees it? how come, bloodied, i am explaining to the man who hit me what he has done? why am i taking care of him, why oh why do i still love him…?
if you took away this lipstick would i still have a mouth underneath? is it true i’m only crying because i’m afraid to go to sleep? i will never be rich, not cuz rich doesn’t matter, but because i am crazy because i am full of hate… crazy means you don’t give a damn what anyone thinks.
when i was little my parents sent me to charm school and ballet. i don’t remember what recital it was fat-stomached and eight years old i was getting photographed in a bikini and a crown. now i’m crazy, fulfilling the american dream and being hated for it, they are just jealous. i don’t care.
i am in protest against the whole world. my body says it, slung into my clothes. i won’t stop talking, i’m a girl you have no control over. there is not a gag big enough to handle this mouth. i’m gonna tell everyone what you did to me. and sometimes i’ll tell it dramatic and sometimes i’ll blurt it out. and the hand you laid on my bare ass will be invisible as it spills right out of me. i will still bear the brunt of it, your smell. they will tell me i am inappropriate with their eyes. i’m not writing to please you, i’m not giving you a clean little hole to stick your dick in, a nice smooth arrangement.
pick me up, open me, put me down.
so sorry, i’m no hemingway, i’m writing for survival, my kind is being killed off, in fact i’m not even sure i exist. these words on this page mean something, if only that i was here and my fingers made this mess. i don’t know luxury, what it is to be carefree. that was your fantasy, remember?

Tobi Vail’s Words On Bikini Kill

The following articles comes from my Riot Grrrl Online website.

Tobi Vail’s Words On Bikini Kill

BIKINI KILL IS A BAND MADE UP OF FOUR INDIVIDUALS, Kathi, Tobi, Billy, and Kathleen…
We have been written about a lot by big magazines who have never talked to us or seen our shows. They write about us authoritively, as if they understand us better than we understand our own ideas, tactics and significance. They largely miss the point of everything about us because they have no idea what our context is/has been. Their idea of punk rock is not based on anything they have ever experienced directly or even sought an understanding of by talking to those who have, yet they continue to write about it as if their stereotypical suraface level view of it is all there is. A lot of times we have been asked why we don’t do interviews very often if we are so concerned with being misrepresented. To us this seems obvious… it is mostly based on our experiences. As a rule we don’t do interviews with mainstream newspapers or magazines. In the few cases where we did do them we feel like we were totally fucked over by the way our words were framed to back up ideas that weren’t our own. Quotes were taken out of context, we were made to look like we were dissing other women in bands when that wasn’t our intention and in the worst case scenerious our confidence was totally violated by having stuff we told the individual writers NOT to focus on exploitatively (abuse histories, where we work/have worked, etc.) turned into the main focus of the article. We have constantly told writers to leave out personal information about us (our last names, who we go out with/used to date) out of articles and they always are sure to include it if we tell them not to. We always try to include perspectives of different band members but often times the writer only puts in quotes by Kathleen, our singer. When she has done interviews by herself as an indivudual it is often seen as an interview with the whole band even tho she continually says she is only speaking as an individual member of Bikini Kill whose opinions do not necessarily refelct those of the whole band. When we have granted these sources interviews it made us look like everything they said about us was done with our co-operation. The times when we have asked to see articles or edit them before they come out it has never really worked out. One time in particular we were told by N.M.E. in the U.K. that we could write our own articles and they would not in anyway comment on it or edit it. When the articles came out Kathi’s was not included, but was rather taken out of context and cited to back up their ideas about us in the introduction they wrote to my article (something that to our understanding they weren’t going to do). They laid it out in a way that included catty remarks bigger than our own words and put in a bunch of dumb pictures that we didn’t send them. This was the last time we ever tried to co-operate with a big magazine but they have continued to write stuff about us. This is really frustrating but what is even more frustrating is when people who should know better, other punks for instance, believe these takes on who we are as being based on reality rather than on conjecture and in most cases on ill intentions of the writer/magazine. (when you refuse to grant interviews people get really insulted and make a point of going out of their way to use their influences to elaborately dis you–usually this is to the point of spreading deliberate lies or saying really naive sexist things in an effort to provoke a response from you) I want to make it cleat that we do not give a shit what people think of us, that is not what we object to in all of this, it is not about us being pissed off because of a bad review… it is about feeling like no matter what we say or do there continues to be this media created idea of ‘Bikini Kill/Riot Girl’ that has little or nothing to do with our own ideas and efforts… we want to be an underground band, we don’t want to be featured in Newsweek magazine… maybe this sounds like a weak complaint to some of you who have worked really hard to get people to hear about your band, projects, record label, ideas, etc. and would appreciate any kind of publicity… we recognize that different strategies are totally valid for different situations… we are not trying to set any kind of ‘correct’ standard, we are just trying to present our views on what our experiences with the media has been in order to start to comment on how it has affected us as a band… we stopped doing interviews altogther for while mainly because we felt that we didn’t need any mroe publicity but also because these experiences led us to not feeling like talking about our ideas atall… sometimes not even to each other, but fuck that you know and right now we are making Nu fanzine(s) about this whole weird machine media spectaclization process we have been going thru and so you should look forward to that …
IN THE MEANTIME WE ASK YOU TO THINK ABOUT WHAT YOU KNOW ABOUT US AND THINK ABOUT HOW YOU GOT THAT INFORMATION, CUZ IN MOST CASES IT PROBABLY ISN’T TOO ACCURATE…
SEND US PICTURES, VIDEO TAPES, AUDIO TAPES OF OUR SHOWS, INTERVIEWS, RADIO SHOWS AND COPIES OF OR XEROXES OF MAGAZINE ARTICLES CUZ WE WANNA DOCUMENT THE SOUND OF THE SPECTACLE AND OFTEN TIMES DON’T GET SENT COPIES OF STUFF.
Oh yeah and please address all correspondence to Bikini Kill c/o kill rock stars (120 N.E. State Ave. #418/Olympia, WA 98501).
One huge misconception for instance that has been repeated over and over again in magazines we have never spoken to and also by those who beleive these sources without checking things out themselves is that Bikini Kill is the definitive ‘riot girl band’… We are not in any way “leaders of” or authorities on the ‘Riot Girl’ movement. In fact, as individuals, we have each had different experiences with, feelings on, opinions of and varying degrees of involvement with ‘Riot Girl’ and tho we totally respect those who still feel that the label is important and maningful to them, we have never used that term to describe ourselves AS A BAND. As, individuals we respect and utilize and subscribe to a variety of different aesthetics, strategies and beliefs, both political and punk-wise, some of which are probably considered ‘riot girl’ . . .
You can get back issues of Bikini Kill fanzines (issues #1 and #2) from riot girl press for $2 each. They are a girl run girl fanzine distribution network, write to them and send them $1 for their catalog which contains brief descriptions of stuff available thru them as well as info on how to get involved in what they’re doing. Please note that these fanzines are way outdated–both were made in 1991 and also that although both have contributions by other band members most of the stuff in them was written by our singer, Kathleen, this is not to say they aren’t informative but rather to make an effort to posit them more exactly with regards to the factors of history and subjectivity . . . R.G.P. P.O. Box 73308/Washington, D.C.20009

Jigsaw Youth

Jigsaw Youth
Written by Kathleen from Jigsaw Fanzine #4 Spring 1991 Olympia, Washington.
Taken from my Riot Grrrl Online website, of course.

We live in a world that tells us we must choose an identity, a career, a relationship, and commit… to these situations… as if we don’t live in a world of constant flux… which we do. Don’t freak out just cuz the jigsaw is laying on the floor and it’s not all the way phone and has been laying there for 4 whole hours now, resist the freak out. You will get to it… it’s all part of the process.
To force some forever identity on other people is stupid. Point out inconsistincies in their behavior, explain how they are not ‘truly what they say’ because you saw them ‘do this’ one time… why? Because it is easier to deal with cardboard cut outs than real people, cuz a lot of us pretend like we’re the center of the universe sometimes and everyone is just background extras in the movie we imagine we star in. WELL WHILE WE ARE ALL ARGUING ABOUT WHOSE GONNA GET TO OPEN FOR THE MELVINS, WHOSE GONNA WEAR WHAT TO THE PARTY, WHO IS LAME/TAME BECAUSE THEY PERPETUATE THIS THING WE HATE, WHO IS NOT REALLY A PUNK ROCKER CUZ “I remember when he/she used to listen to Duran Duran”, THE REVOLUTION IS GOING DOWN…no it’s not happening without us, it is just plain not happening at all… it is going down under the gurgling sounds of our own voices, reproducing the voices of our parents in a slightly altered way, the TV people… trying to dictate to each other what is and what isn’t cool or evolutionary or true resistence, what is or isn’t true in other peoples lives we sit around making all these boxes and labels, nothing to put in them, we are wasting valuable time. FUCK THAT SHIT, LET’S START TALKING FOR REAL.
To be a stripper who is also a feminist, to be an abused child holding a microphone screaming all those things that were promised, in one way or another, “I won’t tell.” these are contradictions I have lived. They exist, these contradictions cuz I exist. Every fucking ‘feminist’ is not the same, ever fucking girl is not the same, okay??? Because I live in a world that hates women and I am one… who is struggling desparately not to hate myself and my best girlfriends, my whole life is constantly felt by me as a contradiction. In order for me to exist I must belive that two contradictory things can exist in the same space. This is not a choice I make, it just is.
JIGSAW, a puzzle made up of all different weird shaped pieces. It seems like it will never come together, it makes no sense, but it can and it does and it will. Jigsaw, pieces like where you grew up and in what kind of fucked up culture and do you have a penis or not and did your parents have money and did you get teased for wearing the same coat four winters in a row and are you Thai-american or Black or Mulatto? And what do all these things mean when you are trying to resist, do something, have a good time??? I see the Jigsaw, fuzzy in my head as everything else, sometimes clear. The fact that he grew up in a working class family has everything to do with he is gonna express sexism, what kind of music he is gonna like, how I am gonna treat him. Jigsaw girl, she got fucked by her father, 8 years, people say she’s flakey and inconsistent, lays in her bed eating donuts, resisting going outside where the silence will engulf her, rather sit there wating than always being eaten up… her experience has everything to do with how the pieces are fitting together (or not) for her, judge her from your place without wondering what’s going on in that there Jigsaw mind of hers, and you have pushed her further away from clicking, her hand wants so bad to feel, one edge against another, together, one piece next to another, locking into place… you have to be able to see the puzzle before you start putting it together.
Resistance is everywhere, it always has been and always will be. Just because someone is not resisting in the same way you are (being a vegan, an ‘out’ lesbian, a political organizer) does not mean they are not resisting. Being told you are a worthless piece of shit and not believing it is a form of resistence. One girl calling another girl to warn her about a guy who date raped her is another. And while she may look like a big haired makeup girl who goes out with jocks, she is a soldier along with every other girl, and even though she may not be fighting in the same loud way that some of us can (and do) it is the fact that she is resisting that connects us, puts a piece together.
Jigsaw Youth, I don’t know what this means anymore than anyone… only what it means to me. Standing proud and saying “I don’t know who I am, I wanna know more, I am not afraid to say things matter to me.”
Assuming that people are either “part of the problem or part of the solution” disincludes a lot of people, who, at this moment, do not feel (and therefore ARE NOT) safe enough emotionally, physically, and/or financially to resist in the same ways you might be. By judging people according to your standards of resistence or whatever… it makes it harder for people to recognize what they’re doing as being important and political, etc…. it makes it harder for them to get into safe enough situations where they can reisit in more outward, community oriented ways if they want to.

Jigsaw Youth, the island of lost and broken toys, feminists who wear lipstick, people who envision ‘the land of do as you please’, whose lives are not simple and they are sick of trying to make themselves cohesive enough to fit into a box. Jigsaw Youth, listening, strategizing, tolerating, screaming, confronting, fearless, girl soldiers, boy lovers, boofy haired teen girls scraping out the eyes on a photo of Rick Astley, Jigsaw Youth, the misunderstood seeking to understand other people’s reality. Making mistakes… making mistakes… making mistakes… making mistakes… feeling something. Knowing you will never see the puzzle put all together but trying anyways cuz each fucking piece really matters and being with friends matters. Jigsaw Youth… inventing and reinventing what these words
mean.

Color Activity Book Intro

This was taken from my Riot Grrrl Online website. It is a zine article written by Kathleen Hanna in the early 90′s.

Color Activity Book Intro

Bikini Kill is a band and this is our little thing to give out at shows, etc… AND THEN THERE’S THE REVOLUTION.
Bikini Kill is more than just a band or a zine or an idea, it’s a part of the revolution. The revolution is about going to the playground with your best girlfriends. You are hanging upside down on the bars and all the blood is rushing to your head. it’s a euphoric feeling. the boys can see our underwear and we don’t care.
I’m so sure that lots of girls are also in revolution and we want to find them. Sure our revolution has a lot to do with making ourselves important enough to start a revolution, but we also don’t care about this… Because what makes us feel good without hurting others IS good. This society isn’t my society cuz this society hates women and I don’t. This society doesn’t want us girls to feel happy or powerful in any way.
My girlfriends help me stop crying and start looking towards whats important (revolution) my girlfriends know the revolution (sex) my girlfriends aren’t owned by me BUT have cringing and choking on boy cum in common (revolution) MY GIRLFRIENDS WANT REVOLUTION GIRL STYLE NOW.
Being sexy and powerful female is one of the most subversive projects of all. (We are the priestesses of a new kind of power oh yeah.)
We know we are not like this due to any weird gene formation or luck or trick. We are how we are from working together with our eyes open and having experience and getting help from out Moms and friends. We vow to struggle against the “j” word (jealousy) the killer of GIRL LOVE. We are not special, anyone can do it. ENCOURAGEMENT IN THE FACE OF INSECURITY is a slogan of the revolution.

44 Writings I Need For This Blog

I am in need of some articles and writings for this blog. I will add to this list as I see fit. The ones listed below are ideas for articles and writings and are some writings/articles I need for the blog. By writing the article (or articles), You will be emailed an invite to join this blog and will be able to post up your writing on the blog. Be sure to let others know that you wrote the article (or articles).

ARTICLES AND WRITINGS NEEDED:

1-History of riot grrrl: how, why, where, when, and who started it. (about the music and the movement)
2-History of feminism: how, why, where, when, and who started it.
3-The 3 waves of feminism.
4-The many different types of feminism such as: anarcha-feminism, individual feminism, radical feminism, and all the others.
5-Write about your favorite feminism/riot grrrl website or write a review of your favorite feminism/riot grrrl website. (can be blogs, websites, forums, etc.)
6-Write your own definition of what feminism means to you.
7-What does riot grrrl mean to you? (Write as much or as little as you want.) Describe riot grrrl in your own words.
8-Write about being a riot grrrl in another country. What’s the riot grrrl scene like where you live? Is there a chapter where you live? Any riot grrrl bands where you live? How did you get into riot grrrl? How long have you been into riot grrrl?
9-Write about how you got into riot grrrl. What, how, when, who, and where made you get into riot grrrl?
10-Write about being a riot boy: how, when, who, what, and where did you get into riot grrrl?
11-Write your own riot boy manifesto. (I already have a version on my website.)
12-Write about being a male feminist: how, when, who, what, and where did you get into riot grrrl?
13-Write some feminism questions that you would like answered or start a feminism FAQ (frequently asked questions) of your own and the answers to them.
14-Write some riot grrrl/boy questions that you would like answered or start a riot grrrl FAQ (frequently asked questions) of your own and the answers to them.
15-Write about women’s issues important to you.
16-Write about feminism and what it means to you.
17-Write how you got into feminism and why.
18-Make a list of reasons on why your a feminist. Try to think of 50 or more reasons, if you can. 10-20 reasons will do too.
19-Make a list of reasons on why your a riot grrrl. Try to think of 50 or more reasons, if you can. 10-20 reasons will do too.
20-Write some DIY tips or share yours. Share your own DIY stuff.
21-Write something about being an activist/ or about activism.
22-Write something about zines or your life as a zinester.
23-Write about your ladyfest or a ladyfest you attended.
24-Write about a riot grrrl chapter or your own riot grrrl chapter.
25-Write about being pro-choice, why your pro-choice, or what it means to you.
26-Write something about how riot grrrl and queercore music are connected.
27-Write something about how riot grrrl and grunge music are connected.
28-Write something about how riot grrrl and punk music are connected.
29-Write something about feminism in other countries. What’s feminism like in your country or other countries?
30-Write something about human rights in your country or another country.
31-Write something about equal rights.
32-Write about why is feminism important today.
33-Write your own definition of what a riot boy is to you. Give your own definition of riot boy.
34-Write your own Zine DIY guide.
35-Write how to start a riot grrrl chapter DIY guide.
36-Write your own list of ways to be an activist.
37-Write a review of a zine or your favorite zine.
38-Write about your experience with the Riot Grrrl Online website.
39-Write about the Riot Grrrl Online website or do a review of the website. If you write about the website, write how you found the website, how you got active in the website and why. I’m sure there are more things you can write about the website, as long as your a reader or fan of the website, your input is appreciated.
40-A review of your riot grrrl or feminist website.
41-Write a news story. Write about an issue or topic important to you or an issue/topic you think would be important to others that is happening in the news.
42-Write your own women’s issue story. If you are a survivor (of anything from rape to cancer, etc.), I’d like to hear your story and what you went through.
43-Write how to start a ladyfest.
44-Write how to start your own record label and/or band.

If your interested in writing one of these articles, Feel free to read the “contribute” page and reply to the “contribute” page or email me. If you comment on the “contribute” page or email me, Please specify which article (or articles) you want to write about by letting me know which number or numbers (# or #’s) your interested in writing. If you have your own ideas for writings or whatever, feel free to email me some of yours.

*This is also posted on the “Ideas” page.

What Riot Grrrl Means To Me

The following was written by Greta/grrrlriot. (me) Do not copy without permission.

What Riot Grrrl Means To Me…What Does It Mean To You?

There are no right or wrong definitions of riot grrrl, in fact, everyone has their own definition of what a riot grrrl is. Here goes my definiton of what riot grrrl is and what it means to me.

Riot grrrl doesn’t ‘man-hate’.
Riot grrrl doesn’t discriminate against age, race, sex, or sexual preference.
Riot grrrl is a movement for girls that want to be equal to men and want equal rights for everyone.
Riot grrrl is being a nonconformist and not meeting society’s standards.
Riot grrrl is DIY. (doing it yourself)
Riot grrrl is about making zines, websites, blogs, and being active online.
Riot grrrl is all about not fitting into a mold.
Riot grrrl is all about rebelling against society.
Riot grrrl is about being yourself, being unique, being different, and loving yourself.
Riot grrrl is about your rights as a human being.
Riot grrrls want to be seen and heard.
Riot grrrls want to speak out against various issues in today’s society, including women’s issues.
Riot grrrls want to smash patriarchy.
Riot grrrls want to make a stand and want to make a difference.
Riot grrrls want to be globally aware of issues affecting the world.
Riot grrrls want freedom to be themselves without being judged.
Riot grrrls believe in grrrl love, respect, feminism, and equality.
Riot grrrls believe in women’s rights.
Riot grrrls believe in feminism and human rights.
Riot grrrls believe that women should have rights in ALL countries.
Riot grrrls are activists and want to change the world.

Grrrl love, respect, feminism, and equality are the main aspects of what a riot grrrl is to me. You can be male or female to believe in the movement. Males can be riot grrrls, but sometimes call themselves ‘riot boys’ or ‘riot guys’, even though gender doesn’t matter.
To be a riot grrrl, You don’t have to listen to riot grrrl bands, even though it helps to understand the riot grrrl movement better. You just have to believe in the riot grrrl philosophy.
Riot grrrl doesn’t discriminate. To be a riot grrrl, You have to believe in the riot grrrl manifesto.
I know there are people that say the movement isn’t around anymore, but I think it is coming back. I want a riot grrrl revival. There are people that still believe in riot grrrl today. There are ex-riot grrrls around as well that used to be into the movement, but they no longer consider themselves a riot grrrl anymore or they think the movement died.
Can you be a riot grrrl? Sure, You just have to believe in the philosophy and what its all about. You can even start up your own riot grrrl chapter in your area/town/country/state to get the word out about riot grrrl and to meet other riot grrrls.
DIY, meetings, zines, and music are a big part of the riot grrrl movement.

Riot Grrrl Online’s Social Network: Something You Didn’t Know

This post refers to my previous post located here.

If you read that post, you know that you can create your own profile on the website. Did you know that you can create other profiles too, if you want? Feel free to create your own band, zine, riot grrrl chapter, feminist chapter, feminist organization, activist, ladyfest, etc. profiles on there as well. For your information, The profiles are the same as personal profiles. There’s no difference between them. You can also create groups on the website as well.

For more information, go to the social network website below.

The Riot Grrrl Online Community Social Network

How To Start A Zine Distro

This information was taken from here from archive.org.

How To Start A Zine Distro

The first thing you want to decide is how you are going to accept zines for your distro. There are two ways of doing this:

Flats – A flat is a single (and can be double) sided version of zines before it has been folded and stapled. If you decide to do it this way, you just go to the print shop and make a copy everytime someone orders a zine. You can go once a week and make all your copies at once and save some time and trips to the printer. If there is any profit to be made, it goes to you. The zine writer gets no compensation from you.

Wholesale – You can work out a deal with a zine writer to buy a number of copies of the zine and then sell them through your distro. This is a lot easier since you don’t ever have to go to the printers and you don’t have to worry about folding and stapling. This may require money up front, but a lot of zine writers will sell them in bulk for cheaper. You can also work out a consignment deal, where the zine writer sends you their zine and you pay them every time you sell a copy. You can also pay them at specified intervals throughout the year. If there is any profit to be made, it goes to you. You shelled out the money for the zines so you get whatever money is left over.
It’s all up to you as to which way you want to run your distro. Some people prefer flats and some prefer wholesale.

A good rule of thumb is to find out how much the zine writer charges for the zine and then sell them for the same price. That way you aren’t charging more or less for the zine and it won’t really matter where the person gets the zine from. The ideal purpose of a distro isn’t to make money, it should be about getting zines out that otherwise might not be known in your area.

Once you’ve decided how you are going to run your distro, it’s time to look for zines to carry! You have to decide what kind of zines you want to carry – whether you want personal, political, informative, riot grrrl, hardcore, punk, straight edge, ska, or whatever kind of zine. An excellent place to find zines is on the Internet. Do a search for zines through search engines, World Wide Punk, mailing lists, zine webrings, etc. Check out the content and then e-mail the editor and ask about distroing their zine. You can place ads on people’s message boards and guestbooks calling for zines. If there are other zines in your area, talk to the editors and see about distroing them as well. Making a webpage for anything, including a distro, will increase your chances of getting zines to carry.

You’ll want to make a catalog for the zines (and other items that you decide to carry) and advertise it. Most people won’t pay for smaller catalogs so it’s best to just ask for stamps. It’s also good to have on file the zine writers’ addresses and websites if they have them, in case people want to contact them or check out the zine before they buy it.

It takes a lot of hard work and time to run a zine distro, and it gets a lot more complicated when you start adding other items to your catalog such as music, clothing, pins, etc. You pretty much handle everything like you would a zine – you can buy wholesale or sell on consignment.

This obviously is only a start on how to start up a zine distro – every distro works differently and there is a ton of work involved, depending on what you stock and how many orders you get. Be patient with yourself and don’t overwork yourself. This should be a fun experience, not a headache!

Girl Love Is…

The following is from the zine Tennis and Violins by Kristy Chan. It is taken from here: http://web.archive.org/web/20011020035444/www.geocities.com/SoHo/Cafe/3685/girllove.html

Girl Love Is…

* treating all girls with respect
* hugging your girlfriends and being there for them
* protecting each other and providing a feeling of safety when we walk down the street or go out
* making space where women/girls feel unthreatened and unintimidated
* talking about abuse and rape when no one else will listen
* making other girls feel unafraid to eat in public or around others
* making other girls feel comfortable in their bodies
* being kind to your mom and not expecting her to wait on you
* not judging women/girls on their looks and/or hating them for being pretty
* not competing for boys’ attention
* not looking/acting dumb on purpose so boys will like you
* not picking your new boyfriend over your old girlfriends
* calling people on their shit, including your girlfriends because it helps us to stay aware of things we do that are fucked up and things we need to change
* not feeling homophobic around your girlfriends and refusing to touch them
* learning and teaching each other how to do stuff and be active
* screaming in public
* knowing that girls can do anything boys can do
* stopping jealousy
* realizing that girls who have sex aren’t “sluts” or bad and respecting their sexual choices as something that you might not understand of have any business speculating on
* being pro-choice
* knowing that you are connected to all girls and the way you view yourself is related to their self-image as well
* sharing resources with other girls
* helping each other see our beauty and build our own culture around what we see
* wearing make-up and tight clothes because we want to
* being sexy and powerful
* being honest and straight-forward with your girlfriends because mind games suck and keep us divided
* talking about our feelings
* holding hands
* feeling okay about being naked around each other * having sex and making out (if you want to) and liking it
* understanding that girls that we may not like are people, too and are affected by the same institutions that affect all of us
* not letting the words “feminist”, “slut”, “whore”, “bitch”, etc. be used as insults against us
* refusing to let companies prey on our insecurities in order to get our money (how many times have you bought some low-fat diet shit because you feel insecure about your body or bought make-up to hide your face that you think isn’t pretty?)
* trying to understand how oppression and the status quo work and how we fit into it
* reclaiming our customs and rituals (hanging out in the bathroom, slumber parties, shopping, the color pink, whatever we fucking want)
* self-love

Riot Here! Riot Now! and What The Heck Is Riot Grrrl?

“riot here! riot now!”
“what is riot grrrl? it’s about love, girl-love, self-love, love grrrl style… it’s about grrrls taking control of all parts of our lives… it’s about making everyone that you encounter understand that you, and all women, deserve respect and that you’re not going to do what someone else wants, just because it’s expected of you. fuck expectations! fuck being told that we have to like boys…that we have to go to school or get married or anything! riot grrrl is about taking control of our own lives and telling other people what we will do. and that means that we each get to decide what’s right for us, not having the pariarchy dictate how we spend our time, or who we spend it with. grrrls don’t get enough support and it’s time we started supporting each other.”

(i believe the above definition was taken from a DC riot grrrl writing in the early 90′s)

So what the heck is Riot Grrrl? Depending on who you ask, it is:
(if anyone knows where this came from, let me know so i can give credit)

*a music movement that has its roots in punk rock and must be understood within that context. defining riot grrrl is much like defining punk– there is no central organization, no authoritative definition, just an attitude concerned with pointing out social hipocrisy and empowering people to
*it is activist music, ‘zines, meetings, and other activity that builds a supportive environment for women and girls and is concerned with feminist issues such as rape, abortion rights, bulemia/anorexia, beauty standards, exclusion from popular culture, the sexism of everyday life, double standards, sexuality, self-defense, fat opression, racism and classism.
*the network of ‘zines that are produced by girls and young women who identify with the music that is associated with riot grrrl. the ‘zines are often intensely personal, but that personal outlet is translated to larger political action when the ‘zines are available to the public, bringing people together for consciousness-rasing activities.
*the ethos of Riot Grrrl is about supporting each other, empowering each other, and making things happen without backstabbing, competition and more-grrrl-than-thou-ness, grrrl power is not about what the boys think, grrrl power is about separate space when we need it, and including supportive boys when we need that–but the choice is ours.

All of this was taken from: http://www.angelfire.com/rant/RGC/

Care2.com

Care2 is a social networking website for activists of all sorts. It’s sorta like myspace, but better and different. I just had to share the link to care2 and my profile on care2. The website is one of my favorites and I login there on an almost daily basis. I think it’s great that activists have their own social networking website. I figured I’d get the word out about care2 because I feel like alot of people don’t know about the website. (or how good it is!) Also, I figured that alot of people would be interested in care2. (or joining care2)

Feel free to add me as a friend on Care2. Currently, I have no friends on Care2.
My Care2 Profile: http://my.care2.com/grrrlriot

The following information was taken from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Care2.

What Is Care2.com All About? Care2 is a social network website that was founded by Randy Paynter in 1998 to help connect activists from around the world. It has a membership of approximately 8 million people.

Care2′s stated mission is to help people make the world a better place by connecting them with the individuals, organizations and responsible businesses making an impact.

Overview
Care2 members create an online identity by filling out a profile with personal information, as in most social networking sites, but Care2 also asks for information about its members’ involvement in activism. The social interactions on Care2 revolve around groups that connect people who care about similar issues. Internet petitions and news articles posted by members are also frequently used.

Features
-Member profiles and groups to facilitate social networking
-Petitions that any citizen can create and distribute
-Petitions created and promoted by Care2 in partnership with nonprofit organizations
-”Click-to-Donate Races” to generate donations to charities (from ad sponsors), just by clicking
-Free E-Cards (which also generate free donations)
-Citizen News Network–members post news stories themselves and vote on which ones should be displayed
-Blogs
-Free Webmail Accounts
-Free photo-sharing with unlimited upload space
-Email newsletters and “e-alerts” about various issues like the environment and human rights
-”Care2 JobFinder,” which lists jobs with progressive companies
-A “Green Living” channel with tips on living healthier, more sustainable lives
-Various content channels on topics such as Global Warming, Women’s Issues and the 2008 U.S. Presidential Election

Riot Acts: Punk Girl Groups Are Putting the Self Back in Self-Esteem

This is an OLD article from the New York Times about the riot grrrl movement.

Japenga, Ann. The New York Times
15 November 1992: Section 2, Page 30.

Riot Acts

Punk’s Girl Groups Are Putting the Self Back in Self-Esteem

The singer Kathleen Hanna sashayed onto the stage to distribute lyric sheets before a recent Seattle appearance of her band, Bikini Kill. The men in the crowd surged forward, extending their arms to receive the word from this new punk Madonna, with her flailing magenta ponytail and seductive stage manner. But she slapped the men back. “Girls only,” she scolded, putting copies of the lyrics in each upraised female hand. Ms. Hanna’s action set the tone for the performance: the band was delivering its wisdom to women, and men had better behave themselves if they wanted to hang around.

Bikini Kill is part of a growing cadre of so-called girl bands that are claiming a place in punk rock. And the rise of groups like Bratmobile, Heavens to Betsy, Mecca Normal and Bikini Kill has inspired a larger movement of feminists in their teens and early 20′s who call themselves Riot Grrrls. That’s girl with an angry “grrrrowl.”

Riot Grrrls is a grass-roots movement that began in the summer of 1991 around Olympia, the sedate state capital 65 miles south of Seattle, in the same thriving music environment that has spawned other Northwest bands like Nirvana and Mudhoney. The term Riot Grrrls was coined by a small group of female musicians in an attempt to define a more confident, less passive attitude about being a young woman. And though no one knows how widespread the scene has become, concerts here at college auditoriums, church halls and even art galleries are packed with Riot Grrrls, and pockets of sympathizers have sprung up around the country.

To call herself a Riot Grrrl, a woman need only rally to the slogan “Revolution Girl Style Now” and appreciate bands like Bikini Kill and Bratmobile, whose aggressive, unpolished sound has much in common with the early punk rockers Patti Smith, the Raincoats and Poly Styrene of the X-Ray Spex.

Indeed, the movement is above all a triumph of punk, a genre not normally noted for its enlightened attitude toward women. Riot Grrrls say they owe their existence to punk’s do-it-yourself ethic: if you have something to say, pick up a guitar, write a song and say it. “There’s no way any of this could have happened if it wasn’t for punk rock,” says Molly Neuman, Bratmobile’s 21-year-old drummer.

The Riot Grrrl credo is that young women should take care of one another. “This world doesn’t teach us how to be truly cool to each other, and so we have to teach each other,” says a Bikini Kill manifesto circulated in one of the movement’s scores of small newsletters. Riot Grrrls literature and lyrics speak out against the competition and jealousy that they feel society encourages among young women; the Riot Grrrls want to replace those attitudes with loyalty and support.

One of the central tenets is that talking about personal abuses and travails can make women stronger. Accordingly, Riot Grrrl bands address firsthand experiences of rape, incest, insecurity and the struggle of young women to define themselves within a patriarchy. “Don’t need you to tell me I’m cool/ Don’t need you to tell me I’m pretty,” Ms. Hanna shouts in a tune called “Male Approval, NOT.”

Riot Grrrls have a distinct look, combining traditional fashions like round-collared, cinched-waist dresses and incandescent red lipstick with harder touches: heavy black high-top boots and hacked-off punk hair. Also popular is a deliberately nerdy or dowdy appearance, a challenge to the cultural expectation that women should strive to be pretty. Some Riot Grrrls use felt pens to draw block letters on their arms and stomachs spelling out the words “rape,” “incest” and “shame,” another means of focusing discussion on painful personal issues.

Older feminists are heartened by the movement and see the Riot Grrrls as their descendants. “These are the individualistic daughters of the Reagan-Bush years,” says Michelle Fine, a professor of psychology at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York who works with teen-age girls. “It’s very hard for this generation of young women to imagine organizing. In their lifetimes, they haven’t seen collective struggle that has been successful.”

In fact, Riot Grrrl bands, nearly all white and middle class, seem more interested in networking with like-minded women than in courting mainstream recognition. Ms. Neuman wants to get the word out, but many young women who follow the scene will not talk to reporters. One explained her refusal by saying that the movement “is just something that’s been really important to me, and I’m afraid of it being exploited.”

It may be no surprise that these young feminists are trying to maintain a low profile. Society has traditionally been intolerant of young women who do not conform, suggests Lyn Mikel Brown, co-author with Carol Gilligan of “Meeting at the Crossroads: Women’s Psychology and Girls’ Development.” “To be openly resistant is to invite trouble. These are the girls who get sent to therapy or get kicked out of school.”

Ms. Brown is one of several researchers whose studies show that girls suffer a plunge in self-esteem as they approach adulthood, with its still-rigid cultural expectations of femininity. By rewriting the word girl, Riot Grrrls are a rare example of young women banding together to reverse that trend.

From its inception in Olympia, the Riot Grrrl phenomenon has spread to cities like Toronto, Washington, San Francisco and Columbus, Ohio — as young women with little or no musical training formed what some of them call “angry girl bands.”

Bratmobile and Bikini Kill were among the first Riot Grrrl bands. Ms. Neuman was studying women’s issues at the University of Oregon in Eugene when she and Allison Wolfe, started Bratmobile and the newsletter Girl Germs. (“Spread as many girls germs as you can,” one issue admonished.) About the same time, Ms. Hanna and Tobi Vail were putting together Bikini Kill, in Olympia.

Adhering to punk’s do-it-yourself ethic, they started recording cassettes in home studios or releasing 45′s on small labels. The band members also began corresponding with other groups in Oregon and Washington, and out of that the Riot Grrrls movement grew.

“We were all talking about similar things,” recalls Ms. Neuman. “We were frustrated with the world and with sexism, and even with the sexism we saw in alternative culture. It was an exciting time for me, feeling like I wasn’t crazy and there were people who felt the same things I did.”

Calvin Johnson, whose Olympia-based K Records has recorded Bratmobile and Mecca Normal, is amazed at how Riot Grrrls have caught on. “There’s been a spontaneous explosion of interest that I compare to punk rock in the 70′s, when people in Toronto and Paris and Olympia and Tucson were all saying at the same time: ‘Oh, yes, this is what I was looking for.’ “

In Ms. Neuman’s bedroom is a cardboard box full of letters from young women who have responded to Girl Germs. One girl wrote from “an elitist school dominated by the American dream” to say that finding others like her was “my only hope to survive this living hell.” Her letter closed: “Send me your lives.”

How To Start A Zine

Here’s something I got from the old and no longer around The X-Womyn Collective website. It tells you how to start your own zine.

Before You Start

Buy a whole bunch of zines and take note of all the different layouts, designs, graphics, content, etc. It will help you get a better feel for what you want to put in your own zine.

Content

What do you want your zine to be about? What sort of things are you going to put in it? Is it going to be a fanzine for a band (i.e. C.I.L.L. – a Lunachicks zine)? A zine about your local scene (i.e. Neus Subjex – a zine about Cincinnati punk rock)? Personal writings like rants, poetry, stories, etc. (i.e. Puzzle Pieces)? A political/informational zine about sexism, rape, violence, homophobia (i.e. Body Count/FEM-UH-NIST)? FYI, punk, ska, riot grrrl, hardcore, whatever… decide what you want to put in your zine. This is your project. Don’t worry about who will buy it and who will like it. Put what YOU would want to read about. Most zines are created because people see zines they like and want to imitate it. There is no such thing as an original zine anymore, so do whatever you want with it. If you are going to be using pre-printed material, whether it’s a poem, statistics, interviews, graphics, etc., make sure you give the original author credit. No one likes to pick up a zine they’ve never heard of and see something they wrote and the zine writer claiming it as their own (regardless if you tried to pass it off that way). If you are unsure who the author/artist is, make a note of it and offer future credit for that person.

Name

What are you going to call your zine? Choose a name that means something to you. It’s what you are going to be associated with from now on. Pick something that will go with what’s inside. Don’t pick a generic name like “Punkzine” or something like that, use some creativity and put some thought into it. One Up, Neus Subjex, Poop Corner, Cicada, Little Girl, Agitprop, Doo Wrong, Shakeface, Maximumrocknroll – all pretty good names. Don’t purposely rip off zines names though, zine writers get very angry when they see zines with almost exact titles. Your zine will become your life, and it’s sort of like identity theft if someone else is using the same name as you. (We’ve had this provlem before. You wouldn’t think it would be that big of a deal until it happens to you.)

Graphics

What sort of images, if any, are you going to use to accompany you’re writing? Find pictures, drawings, anything to fill in extra space. Empty white spaces are an eye sore. If you have access to it or can afford it, try using colored paper. It doesn’t add to the graphics, but someone may be more willing to pick up a zine if the pages are blue instead of white. Use anything to add life to your zine. But beware of copyrighted material. If you steal graphics off the internet or out of another zine, make sure you mention where you got the graphics from. It’s proper zine ettiquettte. (I never paid much attention to “zine ettiquette” before but in the world of zines, it’s a major issue.)

Layout

Arrange your zine so it’s easy to read. Don’t cram everything into 10 pages if you have 20 pages of material. If you have that much stuff, save some of it for a future issue. You don’t want to run out of material after 2 issues. Don’t reduce it all either so you need a magnifying glass to read it. Normal point size (10 or 12) is good, and with certain fonts you can go as low as 8. Handwritten zines have a certain charm to them, but only if your writing is legible and it copies dark enough. If you are going to handwrite, try using a roll-point pen or transparency marker, that way it will come out better than a ball point pen. Make sure you leave a margin on all sides for copying and stapling. If you are using a comupter, you can mess with your page layout in your writing program and modify the margins.

Printing

This is the biggest pain in the ass of the whole zine process. You can go through 50 printers before you find one that suits you. This is also the most time consuming part of it all, at least from what we’ve experienced. You need money and a lot of time to print. Call around before you venture out and see what prices are available to you. Print shops may be a bit more expensive but their copies usually turn out better. And you don’t have to stand at a xerox machine for six hours printing your zine. But, it is better to do it yourself since you know how everything should be laid out and how you want it to look. But, you can always have someone else do it for you. Plan to spend extra money on your first issue, since it’s the first time you’ve ever done this, you are going to mess up a lot and it’s going to cost money. A quick way of printing is to make what is called a flat. It’s a single-sided version of your zine. Take your final product to the xerox machine, copy each page until it looks the way you want it to. Then place the flat on the document handler on top of the copy machine and select 1 to 2 sided. This makes things go a lot faster so you aren’t screwing up 50 copies of a page at a time. It also helps if you make friends with people that work at copy shops. They can cut you deals and sneak you free copies. Or you could go all out and work in a copy shop!

Getting your zine out

This is the fun part and where all your hard work pays off. Give a copy to the bands and zines you reviewed, if you did reviews at all. Give it to other zinesters where you live and ask them to review it in their zines. Trade zines with people. Sell them at shows. Take them to local record stores and see if they’ll buy them. The internet has made zine distributing a million times easier. You can trade zines with people you’ve met online. You can get on zine mailing lists and talk about your zine there. You can make a webpage to promote your zine and have an e-mail address so people can contact you. Send your zine to bigger zines like Punk Planet, Factsheet Five, Maximumrocknroll and ask them to review it. A lot of people read their reviews and buy the ones with the good reviews. You can send zines to friends out-of-town. You can look for out-of-town distros that would want to carry your zine. Pander, Riot Grrrl Press, Basement Children, Word Is A Weapon, Bitch – all of these distros carry many zines.  Send your zine to online places like World Wide Punk. Hundreds of people visit there a day and trust Vic’s opinions.

Cost

Here’s a major dilemma. You are going to lose money on your zine. There’s no getting around it. Some zine writers have lost hundreds of dollars each time they print. It’s just a fact of zine life. You have to decide if you want to give your zine out for free (if you have good advertisers you can manage this, see below for selling ad space) or if you want to charge for it to cover some of the copying. Don’t expect to make money. You probably won’t so don’t even hope for it. If you do happen to make money, someone loves you. heheh. Keep the cost as low as you can – people are cheap. They’ll spend 4 bucks on a cup of coffee but not 2 bucks on a zine that could change their life. Don’t rip yourself off either, but keep the cost low enough that you aren’t losing tons of money every issue.

Promotion

Stickers, word of mouth, shirts, reviews, anything so people know what your zine is and so they get interested in it. Although it’s lame, have people talk about it so other kids will overhear and want to see your zine. Don’t be shy. This is your baby and you busted your ass on it. Talk to bands at shows and ask for interviews and stuff for review. Getting a big band like Screeching Weasel to do an interview is going to get a lot of people to buy it, although getting Ben Weasel to do anything like that can be a struggle with futility. Just kidding.

Feedback

Make sure and ask for feedback. What does everyone else think? Don’t be hurt or crushed by negative feedback or bad reviews. Not everyone is going to die over your zine. And not everyone will use it as toilet paper either. Find out what’s good and what’s not. What you need to improve on, what rocks already and you don’t need to change. No one is just going to flame your zine out of spite, they are giving you an honest opinion, whether it’s good or bad, and you should be willing to accept suggestions and criticism and try and improve on it. Some zine reviewers at bigger zines like MRR can be real snotty and picky so don’t give up on writing your zine if they give you an awful review.

Advertising

Send letters, e-mails, zines to bands and labels and other places. Call them a few weeks later and ask if they are interested in advertising. Make them pay for it. Not only are you making money to print your next issue, but the labels are reaching a bunch of kids with their products, which is really good for small labels that don’t get much press. The bigger labels are a lot wearier about advertising in small zines with limited circulation and print count. Try and stick with the smaller labels, they will probably send you some stuff to review as well if you ask, since they need all the press they can get, and so can you! Visit local places like record stores and coffee shops and skate parks and ask if they are interested in advertising as well. It’s a good way of lowering your printing cost and in turn lowering the price at which you sell your zine.

Sit back, relax, and repeat as necessary

Don’t start your next zine as soon as you are done printing an issue. Give yourself a break. After a few weeks, begin thinking about the next issue. Draw a layout of what you want to be in it, make a list of articles, gather submissions, get everything in order and then go into the next issue. Don’t burn yourself out. Don’t set deadlines, you’ll bever make them.

Split zines

Split zines take a lot more work on both editors’ parts. You have to coordinate page numbers, material (so you don’t print the same thing), graphics, etc. It’s always a good idea to let the other editor read what you have before you go to print. I got into a short spat with the other editor of my split zine over something I wrote. That could have easily been avoided had we talked about it beforehand. There’s a lot of give and take in a split zine, you have to be willing to compromise, like in any relationship.

E-Zines

E-zines are just as fun as paper zines to make. You can do it one of two ways (that I know of). You can make each zine a website (like we do here at the X-Womyn) or you can send it out as an e-mail. Making a website zine is just like making a webpage for anything else, you need a basic understanding of html and material to publish! Just make your zine as a webpage, publish it on the internet and you’re done! You still need to go through the steps of deciding content, name, etc. but the whole copying business is history. =) I’ve personally never done an e-mail zine before, but you can either send all the contents in an e-mail or attach a text file to an e-mail containing your zine. AOL members have more benefits with adding pictures, colors, fonts, etc. that you can’t do in a text file. Just organize your zine in an e-mail and send it off!

Newsprint

I admit, I’m a newsprint virgin. The next issue of my zine is going to be on newsprint, but I have never done it this way before. We contacted Small Publisher’s Co-op and asked for a pricing list and information. You can also call around and find printers that use newspaper and talk to them about how to print your zine that way.

Feminism Friday: A Brief History Of Riot Grrrl

Here is a brief history of riot grrrl. Later, I might write my own more detailed version. Here is the version from the Riot Grrrl Online website.

Riot Grrrl began in 1991 at Olympia Washington, when a few girls (mostly from Bikini Kill and Bratmobile) decided to get together and talk about their main interests..feminism and punk rock. The first time they met it was all fun, they put up posters to get attention of other open minded girls. Then they found out they had other things in common: they were all vegetarians; against drugs; and had been molested as children. At one meeting a very smart girl took notes, photocopied them and turned them into a cool fanzine. That’s how it all began. Some people think that Bikini Kill started it all, in my eyes they did. Bikini Kill, however does not think of themselves as starting the riot grrrl movement. In Bikini Kill’s songs, they sing about different women issues such as: rape, incest, and other issues that some women face. Some people think that bikini kill, riot grrrls, and feminists are ‘man-haters’. They’re not. They just want to be equal to men, not better to them. Zines are a BIG part of the riot grrrl scene. Most riot grrrls believe in DIY. (do it yourself) That means that they start riot grrrl chapters, zines, etc. of their own around the riot grrrl movement.