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Magazines and Zines
Modern Dungeon Quarterly Number 1
02 months ago
Front Cover for Modern Dungeon Quarterly Number 1
Edited by Perverted Imp
Published in 2012 by Perverted Imp Productions
Featuring a title that sounds like it began as a joke dreamed up late at night by friends chatting, the first issue of Modern Dungeon Quarterly is available as both a printed and electronic magazine. Because I received the electronic copy immediately when I ordered the print copy, I began reading the e-book version instead of the hard copy.
The content in the first issue of Modern Dungeon Quarterly was all written by the editor, Perverted Imp. This is not surprising as the first issue of most zines is typically the creation of one person.
This issue contains brief articles on dungeon safety, soundproofing, lighting, slippery floors, and floggers as well as the featured dungeon of the issue. To Modern Dungeon Quarterly’s credit, the writing in this issue is clear and easy to follow. Unfortunately, none of the articles are particularly informative for anyone who has spent any time working on a home or public play space dungeon.
The print version of this issue presents well. The paper is of good quality and the various photographs are much brighter and more detailed than the electronic version appeared. Be aware that if you order the print version it is shipped in a clear plastic bag with the cover and magazine title visible – something to consider if you live in a small town and don’t want the mailman to know that you are kinky.
Even though the first issue of this zine is so-so, I hope that Perverted Imp continues to write and publish this zine. If future issues expand on the themes explored in this issue this zine could become essential reading. The covered topics would be very interesting and informative if covered in greater breadth and depth.
Copies of both the print and online version of Modern Dungeon Quarterly are available from their website at http://moderndungeonquarterly.com/.
Transpired
07 months ago
by Todd
in Magazines and Zines
Front cover for Transpired
Self-Published in 2011
In the introduction to Transpired, the creators, Hales and Zig, claim that they created the zine with the goal of removing Gender Identity Disorder and transvestic fetishism from the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM).
Physically, this zine takes an extremely low-tech approach. The layout relies heavily on handwritten and cut-and-paste pages. Unfortunately, the execution of the layout made the pages look jumbled and hard to read. While editors with a mission are often able to make their writing seem passionate, the passion of this zine’s creators turned into histrionics. The articles are long on righteous indignation and short on logic or meaningful persuasion.
The content combined with the jarring layout made Transpired a mess. While reading a bad zine is a disappointment to me personally, I think its biggest failing is that anyone reading Transpired who was already convinced that Gender Identity Disorder and transvestic fetishism are mental illnesses would hold the zine as further evidence to support that opinion.
Sir\Ma’am: A Southern Queer Zine Teaser Release
08 months ago
Front cover for SirMa’am A Southern Queer Zine Teaser Release
Published in 2011 by Sir\Ma’am
This teaser release is really short, so there isn’t much to review, but it does contain lots of art and short interviews focused on the transgendered community. While the art didn’t blow me away, it is nice.
The thing that caught my eye was the snippet from an interview with Ali Andwele. Asked about the Austin queer community’s acceptance of gender variance, Ali claims, “I don’t think they respect transgender and genderqueer people enough to know what pronouns to use and what nouns and verbs to use when it comes to talking about us.”
This seems an unfortunate position for Ali to take because it makes assumes that the ignorance is the result of a lack of respect rather than a lack of knowledge or experience. How much better would the world be if Ali, and others, looked at pronoun misusages as opportunities to educate instead of snubs? It takes little imagination to see that Ali’s attitude adds to the divisiveness between people. After all, if the first time someone has an encounter with a transgendered person and a potentially innocent language error is met with hostility or derision, it is reasonably to imagine that the next time they encounter a transgendered person they will be hesitant to initiate a conversation.
While I can appreciate that it would be burdensome to feel as though one had to explain their gender at length over and over again, how hard is it to correct someone’s mistake by simply saying, “It’s she, not he”? Also, while I would be the first to concede that my knowledge of transgendered people is limited, I cannot help but imagine they face much larger obstacles than being innocently referred to by the wrong pronoun. Working on addressing these larger issues seems far more likely to improve the lives of transgendered people, both individually and collectively, than assuming disrespect from incorrect pronoun usage.
At any rate, this is a teaser release of this zine, and it definitely piqued my interest enough to want to track down copies of future issues. If you are interested in learning more about Sir\Ma’am,visit http://www.sirmaam.com/, where you can download pages of this teaser.
R.F.M. Picture Book of Bondage Issue 1
11 year ago
by Todd
in Magazines and Zines
Front cover for R.F.M. Picture Book of Bondage Issue 1
Published in 1979 by R.F.M.
I found this magazine while shopping in my favorite leather store last year. I have no idea how or why they were selling it since it was published several years before they opened. My best guess is that my copy of this magazine is new old stock given its pristine condition and cover price.
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the original 1979 cover price of $14.50 is equivalent to $44.92 at the time of this writing. For the life of me, I cannot imagine spending over $44 for a new magazine. Such a high cover price likely explains why there are still new stock copies available over 30 years after it was published.
R.F.M. is a photo magazine in the purest sense. The only words in the entirety of this issue are in the copyright notice. Other than that, it is devoid of articles, editorials, and captions. It is even devoid of ads. Instead, its pages are filled with photographs of rather unattractive men in bondage. By unattractive, I mean that for the most part they look more like refugees from a Skynyrd concert than fetish models. (I think it is the Confederate soldier-style cap that one wears that brought Skynyrd to mind.) While the photos are not exactly amazing, the age of this magazine and the men inside it did cause me to think about what the fetish community was like back in the 1970s.
It is curious they way the BDSM community often romanticizes the “Old Guard.” By some recollections (invariably relayed by those far too young for these to be firsthand accounts), leather men in the past looked like Greek gods and lived by a moral code which would make the Bushido Code appear to be coddling folks. This is invariably accompanied with a lament of how much things have changed for the worse. While it is doubtless true that some leather people were very attractive and honorable people, then as now, they ran the gamut from beautiful to ugly and honorable to unscrupulous.
I never can put my finger on why some people romanticize the past. However, I think there are a couple of interrelated reasons that explain it. If the past is wondrous, then it holds promise that there is a way to fix the present. I also think that if one believes the past was perfect, they can believe that the present it informs is valuable and worth the effort of fixing.
It is important to understand the past. But romanticizing it prevents us from meaningfully understanding it, because we enter a fantasy that bears little in common with reality. The past informs the present. Realizing that the past is valuable despite its flaws gives us the perspective to recognize that the present, and its flaws, are also valuable.
This is what I really loved about R.F.M. Sure, the models are not attractive, and the scenes portrayed are not groundbreaking. But that isn’t what matters. What matters is that they were having fun and enjoying amazingly hot sex.
R.F.M. serves as a good reminder about what matters and what leather folks were really like. If you have a chance to pick up a copy, I highly recommend you do so.
Pornotopia Issue 3
01 year ago
by Todd
in Magazines and Zines
Front cover for Pornotopia Issue 3
Edited by M.A. Sirk
Published in 2010 by Pandora Press
As always, in the interest of full disclosure, my copy came compliments of Pandora Press.
Pornotopia Issue 3 continues in the same vein as the first two issues but shows Sirk’s progress as a writer and editor. Unlike previous issues, this one features more content from other contributors.
This issue begins with another essay of about exhibitionism and is followed by a short illustrated article about Australian feminist Germaine Greer’s decision to pose nude. The next article titled “The Great Mother and Daughter Photo Scandal” establishes the unstated theme of this issue, mothers and daughters.
Sirk’s other articles include his reminiscences about past lovers and a nice, but too short, commentary on the limited number of English words available to discuss sexual acts and body parts, Also included is Sirk’s best fiction to date and a few reviews including a review of a work by yours truly.
While some might think printed zines passé, Pornotopia, with its intimate writing and focus on underappreciated topics, shows the zine format at its best.
To order a copy of Pornotopia, contact M.A. Sirk at pandora_press@hotmail.com.