The Home for the Literarily Bent
Posts tagged Zine
Transpired
04 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
04 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.
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.
Hey Stranger
01 year ago
by Todd
in Magazines and Zines
Front cover for Hey Stranger
Written and published by Stephanie Kulick in 1992.
I can’t remember where I acquired this tiny 8 page zine which consists wholly of an ode to body piercing. Written just as body piercing was becoming more common, this is a sweet little tome which celebrates the author’s love of body modifications. While I would expect my favorite drawing to be of the pierced perineum, it was actually the drawing of a pierced fingernail on its opposite page that proved my favorite.
Much of this zine’s charm is that it is unmistakably handmade. The back cover is decorated with a Scotch® sealed lipstick kiss and the binding features a tiny ring evocative of the subject inside. My copy also came with a tiny sliver of paper inside where Stephanie promises to add additional rings to the binding if you return it to her with a stamp. The whole package serves as a reminder of how self-published zines can provide a level of intimacy mass published works cannot. Good stuff all around.
Weird Sex Photos
01 year ago
by Todd
in Magazines and Zines
Front cover for Weird Sex Photos
Edited by M.A. Sirk
Published in 2010 by Pandora Press
When I checked my mail, I did not expect to find this gem waiting for me. In the interest of full disclosure, my copy came compliments of Pandora Press.
There is virtually no text in this zine other than the title and the short blurb about how to contact Pandora Press. It is exactly as the title describes it – weird sex photos. Amazingly simple and more amazingly brilliant, this zine is charming and entertaining instead of titillating, and I cannot recommend it highly enough. My best advice to you is to drop whatever you are doing and contact Mr. Sirk at pandora_press@hotmail.com to find out how to get a copy of your very own.