From Publishers Weekly
----------------------
This often mind-stretching, occasionally predictable
and generally entertaining collection of articles from Bitch
magazine has something for every feminist, postfeminist and
reactionary. Bitch was founded in 1996 in response to
"post-feminism" by "freshly minted liberal arts graduates with
crappy day jobs and a serious media jones." With refreshing
depth, literacy and humor, these essays explore questions
surrounding puberty, gender identity, sex, "domestic
arrangements," beauty, pop culture and mainstream media, and
media literacy/activism. Tammy Oler examines menarche and female
puberty in horror films; Gaby Moss analyzes the media's obsession
with "mean girls"; and Lisa Jervis gives a rundown of sex scenes
and pride in YA lesbian novels. Leigh Shoemaker puts down Camille
Paglia's contention that males are superior due to their urinary
"arc of transcendence" by evoking the Virgin Mary's s
squirting milk through the air into Jesus' mouth. Audry Bilger
protests the use of "guys" as gender neutral. Conspicuously
absent is any discussion of women and aging. Maybe we'll just
have to wait for Bitch's 20th anniversary, when its editors will
be pushing 50. (Aug. 15)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed
Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Read more ( javascript:void(0) )
From Booklist ( /gp/feature.html/?docId=1000027801 )
----------------------------------------------------
"Whenever anyone has called me a bitch, I have taken
it as a compliment," writes comedian Margaret Cho in the foreword
to this anthology from the self-procled Queen Bee of Grrrl
Zines. Positioned as an antidote to the patronizing pages of
Cosmopolitan and Vogue, Bitch revels in its power to provoke as
it ponders the landscape of popular culture from a feminist
perspective. In honor of the magazine's tenth anniversary,
founding editors Jervis and Zeisler have amassed essays
(including some specifically commissioned for the collection) on
a bounty of brazen topics, from the ramifications of sexual abuse
and rape to the lesbian tendencies of Japanese macaques. Its
writers are no wallflowers: Leigh Shoemaker's "stand-up"
discussion of female urination, for example, adds new meaning to
the expression, "Looking out for #1." From transsexuality to body
image to gender-bending "slash fiction" that amorously pairs the
likes of Captain Kirk and Spock, there's plenty here to amuse and
enlighten the target audience--and plenty to rattle the cages of
card-carrying macho men and women who might find the racy rants a
bit over the top. Allison Block
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
Read more ( javascript:void(0) )
Review
------
“We love Bitch and think BITCHfest is an essential component of
any feminist's library.” ―Guerrilla Girls
“As delicious as a day spent with your funniest, smartest friend,
this collection is also a call to action, inspiring readers to
fight the fear of female power. As the many writers in here show,
few wrongs are righted without a bitchfest first.” ―Cristina
Page, author of How the Pro-Choice Movement Saved America:
Freedom, Politics and the War on Sex
“In a society as celebrity-obsessed and fad-saturated as ours, we
ignore pop culture at our peril. Hurray for the women of Bitch,
who raised their banner of intelligence right at the intersection
of pop culture and feminism. They've done so with humor, vision,
fire, and guts, as this book of selections from their first
decade proves. Read it, learn from it, enjoy it, argue with it,
revel in it.” ―Robin Morgan
“With humor and in Lisa Jervis, Andi Zeisler, and their
contributors explore what it means to be female, a feminist, a
lover of pop culture, and that other thing that rhymes with rich
but is so much more fun.” ―Ariel Levy, author of Female
Chauvinist Pigs: Women and the Rise of Raunch Culture
“Bitch is my favorite magazine. It makes feminism fun, relevant
and approachable--it's like the Marlo Thomas of our time.” ―Joel
Stein, columnist, Los Angeles Times
“We were working at Ms. magazine in 1996 when a xeroxed pamphlet
arrived at the office bearing the name Bitch. We opened the zine
and found what we'd been fearing didn't exist: feminist writing
that was funny, engaged with pop culture, and yet intellectually
rigorous. Eureka! BITCHfest is the greatest hits, and reading
them is like hanging out with the smartest people you know.”
―Jennifer Baumgardner and Amy Richards, co-authors of Manifesta
“Essential reading for the modern woman.” ―Margaret Cho
“This often mind-stretching, occasionally predictable and
generally entertaining collection of articles from Bitch magazine
has something for every feminist, postfeminist and reactionary.
Bitch was founded in 1996 in response to ‘post-feminism' by
‘freshly minted liberal arts graduates with crappy day jobs and a
serious media jones.' With refreshing depth, literacy and humor,
these essays explore questions surrounding puberty, gender
identity, sex, ‘domestic arrangements,' beauty, pop culture and
mainstream media, and media literacy/activism. Tammy Oler
examines menarche and female puberty in horror films; Gaby Moss
analyzes the media's obsession with ‘mean girls'; and Lisa Jervis
gives a rundown of sex scenes and pride in YA lesbian novels.
Leigh Shoemaker puts down Camille Paglia's contention that males
are superior due to their urinary ‘arc of transcendence' by
evoking the Virgin Mary's s squirting milk through the air
into Jesus' mouth. Audry Bilger protests the use of ‘guys' as
gender neutral. Conspicuously absent is any discussion of women
and aging. Maybe we'll just have to wait for Bitch's 20th
anniversary, when its editors will be pushing 50.” ―Publishers
Weekly
“‘Whenever anyone has called me a bitch, I have taken it as a
compliment,' writes comedian Margaret Cho in the foreword to this
anthology from the self-procled Queen Bee of Grrrl Zines.
Positioned as an antidote to the patronizing pages of
Cosmopolitan and Vogue, Bitch revels in its power to provoke as
it ponders the landscape of popular culture from a feminist
perspective. In honor of the magazine's tenth anniversary,
founding editors Jervis and Zeisler have amassed essays
(including some specifically commissioned for the collection) on
a bounty of brazen topics, from the ramifications of sexual abuse
and rape to the lesbian tendencies of Japanese macaques. Its
writers are no wallflowers: Leigh Shoemaker's ‘stand-up'
discussion of female urination, for example, adds new meaning to
the expression, ‘Looking out for #1.' From transsexuality to body
image to gender-bending ‘slash fiction' that amorously pairs the
likes of Captain Kirk and Spock, there's plenty here to amuse and
enlighten the target audience--and plenty to rattle the cages of
card-carrying macho men and women who might find the racy rants a
bit over the top.” ―Booklist
“This work represents an alternating mix of the most hilarious,
alarming, and unexpected essays from Bitch magazine's first ten
years. Over three-quarters of the works come from the last five
years and, with the exception of an approving pre-scandal profile
of Martha Stewart, retain cultural currency. About-Face founder
Kathy Bruin journals on the eve of her celebrated 1998 ‘Don't
Feed the Models' ing campaign. Keely Savoie presents a
brilliant journalistic brief on the 400-plus animal species
documented in sexual relationships. Shauna Swartz turns out
an indelible account of the severe life of reality porn
actresses. BITCHfest writers, a mix of thought leaders and
unknown activists, share a talent for asking thorny questions:
how can Westerners distinguish between American cosmetic
labiasty and African genital mutilation? Why can't female
Cosmo readers admit they're attracted to, rather than jealous of,
waifs on the glossy covers? Readers new to this feminist
quarterly will find the articles, almost without exception,
original, intelligent, and well written. This compilation has
staying power. Highly recommended for both public and academic
libraries.” ―Library Journal
“Feminist-energized pop-culture essays that appeal to a wide
array of tastes and reading preferences as they celebrate Bitch's
tenth anniversary. Margaret Cho doesn't mind being called a
bitch, she quips in the introduction: ‘I have taken it as a
compliment.' So have many of the 43 writers assembled here, all
equally frustrated by the force-feeding of mass-media values and
the lack of motivational role models. Jervis and Zeisler founded
the 'zine to eschew the complacent postfeminist viewpoint. Among
the inspiring and the outspoken are features on young-adult
novelist Norma Klein (‘Stormin' Norma'); ‘the trials of female
adolescence' via horror film (‘Bloodletting'); the empowering
androgyny of '80s music videos (‘ Women on the Moon'); the
atrocity of rape (‘The Collapsible Woman'); and current hot
topics gay parenting (‘Queer and Pleasant Danger') and cosmetic
reconstruction (‘Plastic Passion,' ‘Vulva Goldmine'). Many of
these pieces are spirited with a unique feminine bravado, but the
editors don't leave out the male point of view; there are
terrific essays on the emasculating effects of male bonding
(‘Holy Fratrimony') and the notion of the fading usefulness of
men (‘Dead Man Walking'). Less engrossing offerings include
discourses on speech tics (‘The, Like, Downfall of the English
Language,' ‘On Language'), the art of peeing (‘Urinalysis'),
‘humilitainment' (‘XXX Offender') and the ‘tragedy' of lesbians
who sexually desire men (‘What Happens to a Dyke Deferred?').
Pieces that make room for humor are stronger than the indignant,
alarmist entries; some of the strongest works get right to the
awful truth: Martha Stewart is man-less because ‘she doesn't seem
to exude that warmth andcaring nature men enjoy' (‘The Paradox of
Martha Stewart'); both Jane Magazine (‘Pratt-fall') and Carnie
Wilson (‘Your Stomach's the Size . . . ') should just go away. By
volume's end, alas, feminism igue definitely sets in and deep,
anti-conspiratorially cleansing breaths are in order for all
warrior princesses. Smartly written, socio-cultural vignettes
that speak to everyone, loud and clear.” ―Kirkus Reviews
Read more ( javascript:void(0) )
About the Author
----------------
Lisa Jervis is publisher of Bitch and a regular lecturer on media
and feminism. Andi Zeisler is Bitch's editorial/creative
director. Both women write regularly for newspapers and magazines
nationwide.
Read more ( javascript:void(0) )