Riding the third wave: women-produced Zines and feminisms. (Discussion Papers/Documents De Travail).

Bell, Brandi Leigh-Ann

This paper aims to provide insight into the role women play as cultural producers by examining women-produced zines. Zines (independently-produced magazines) provide an opportunity to explore cultural production by women which is unconstrained by corporate or institutional interests. The form and content of a selection of women-produced zines are analyzed with reference to third wave feminism. A movement within feminism generally associated with young women, third wave feminism provides a framework in which to examine cultural production by women to determine the possibilities and limitations zines may provide for feminist action.

Cet article a comme but de developper une connaissance approfondie du role que jouent les femmes en tant que productrices culturelles, en se penchant plus specifiquement sur les zines produits par des femmes. Les zines (magazines independants) offrent la possibilite de sonder la production culturele des femmes en dehors des contraintes des interets corporatistes ou institutionnels. La forme et le contenu d'un echantillon de zines produits par des femmes sont analyses en fonction de la troisieme vague du feminisme. Un mouvement qui existe a l'interieur du feminisme le plus souvent associe aux jeunes femmes, la troisieme vague du feminisme fournit une structure par rapport a laquelle examiner la production culturelle des femmes afin de determiner les possibilites et les limites qu'offrent les zines en vue d'actions feministes.

Introduction

Research pertaining to North American women's popular culture has typically focussed on the role women play as consumers of cultural products. There is inadequate research concerning women as producers of popular culture and more work needs to be done in this area to better understand the role women play as producers of cultural products. Women's magazines have long been considered important in women's lives and have grown into a large cultural industry around the world. However, like studies of other forms of popular culture, those pertaining to women's magazines have traditionally neglected to consider the role of women as producers.

Zines, however, are independently produced magazines that provide an opportunity to explore women's cultural production in a format unconstrained by commercial or organizational restrictions. Zines are an example of how women can create cultural products and they provide insight into the possibilities and limitations for feminist activism in the current North American cultural environment.

There has been very little scholarly work that has focussed on the cultural phenomenon of zines. Stephen Duncombe has produced the most comprehensive scholarly look at zines in his book, Notes From Underground. Zines and the Politics of Alternative Culture. He covers various issues related to the production of zines, its history, and the culture that has grown up around it. And while he briefly touches on women as zine producers, he offers a very limited analysis, focussing solely on zines coming out of the Riot Grrrl movement. He does address the possible implications of zines for feminism and opens a gateway to this study by acknowledging the importance of cultural production by women: "By producing zines and networking with each other, Riot Grrrls become producers instead of merely consumers, creating their own spaces rather than living within the confines of those made for them" (Duncombe, 1997, p. 70).

Very few studies have emerged that examine the relationship of women to zine production. Electronic zines (or ezines) have more often been the focus for feminist scholars. (1) For the most part, the study of print zines by women has been neglected by feminist scholars, leaving an important part of women's culture unexamined.

Zines and Zine History

Defining zines has been a difficult and highly problematic task. Both scholars and zine creators have struggled in their attempts to define what a zine is, often failing to arrive at a consensus on the issue. Problems arise conceming what characteristics define a zine and differentiate it from a magazine. Typical definitions of zines focus on their tendency to be noncommercial and amateur, and to have a small range of influence. Other definitions, however, focus on the reasons behind creating a zine, arguing that zines are created out of a pure desire or need to communicate, as opposed to magazines which may be created in order to make a profit.

According to Duncombe, "zines are noncommercial, nonprofessional, small-circulation magazines which their creators produce, publish, and distribute by themselves" (Duncombe, 1997, p. 6). This definition contains abstract terms that make defining zines difficult; however, it is a useful definition, not only because it reminds us that there are many contentious issues around defining zines, but also because it points to many of the most common characteristics of zines.

Similar to defining zines, scholars and zine creators have difficulty agreeing on the details of the history of zines. Accounts of the history of zines vary in many ways, including what constitutes the first zine and to what extent non-zine cultural activities affected today's zines. What is made clear through an examination of the history of zines is that zines are not simply the antithesis of magazines, but are closely related to independent publishing ventures such as pamphlets, newsletters, and fanzines. In the 1970s, punk fanzines appeared and added new elements to zine culture, most importantly the do-it-yourself ethic. Other forms of punk culture and music called upon individuals to reject the culture produced for them and make their own culture with whatever resources were available. In terms of format, the increased availability of the photocopier and desktop publishing have expanded zines beyond cut-and-paste methods, sometimes to more professional-looking styles. The content of zines also continue s to expand to include almost anything imaginable, such as personal stories, writing, religion, and fringe culture. (2) Despite this diversity, there are common elements among zines and their creators that connect them and help to produce a particular culture.

Zines are part of what Duncombe calls the "Scene": "the loose confederation of self- consciously 'alternative' publications, bands, shows, radio stations, cafes, bookstores, and people that make up modem bohemia" (Duncombe, 1997, p. 53). These elements of underground culture often criticize mainstream culture and advocate an alternative, or ideal, world of production and consumption. While the content of zines often highlights their opposition to mainstream culture and the discussion of alternatives, it is the very existence of zines that provides the best argument for the possibility of alternatives to the mainstream. Zines are "politics by example" (Duncombe, 1997, p. 196). Not only do zine creators advocate cultural alternatives in their zines, but the fact that they create a zine is, in itself, an act in opposition to mainstream culture.

In A Girl's Guide to Taking Over the World: Writings from the Girl Zine Revolution, Karen Green and Tristan Taormino argue that one of the most important reasons for zines is that they "are sites for communication, education, community, revolution, celebration, and self-expression" (Green and Taormino, 1997, p. xiv). Zines are one of the ways that the underground community is bound together. Since zines regularly discuss and review other zines, "every zine is a community institution in itself, as each draws links between itself and others" (Duncombe, 1997, p. 48). Not only is the underground community built through the referencing of zines by others, but the common practice of trading zines and encouraging others to produce them also connects zine creators. This networking aspect of zine culture is so important that Friedman refers to it as "the lifeblood of the zine community" (Friedman, 1997, p. 9).

It is important to understand who is involved in this network and who is excluded in order to understand the limitations of zine culture and possible issues for feminist zine creators. Once again, because zines are part of the underground, it is difficult to determine who exactly creates zines in any concrete sense. However, there are some general characteristics of zine creators that are known and these will provide an idea of who makes up zine culture.

According to Duncombe, "most zinesters are young and the children of professionals, culturally if not financially middle class" (Duncombe, 1997, p. 8). The middle-class nature of zine producers also points to the fact that the majority are likely to be white, introducing issues of both racial and economic privilege. While zines can be, and are, produced by people of varying ages, it is interesting to note Duncombe's assertion that many zine producers are young. According to Julie Chu, this is likely to be because zines "provide one of the only independent sites for tens of thousands of youth voices (usually under age 30) in a media environment otherwise dominated by corporate adult interests" (Chu, 1997, p. 71). Privilege is also an important issue when studying zines, especially women-produced zines, in relation to feminism. As Mary Celeste Kearney argues, it is important "to problematize which girls are given access to and training in the means of cultural production (that is, which girls are allowed to pa rticipate in the 'politics of representation')" (Kearney, 1998, p. 305).

Zines produced by women and girls are not a new phenomenon, but part of a long tradition of information sharing among women. It is in this context that women-produced zines should be understood, and this paper defines women-produced zines as those that are created "primarily by and for girls and women" (Green and Taormino, 1997, p. xi). References to women-produced zines should be understood to include female producers of all ages, since women of all ages produce zines; however, it should be remembered that it is young women (in their teens to their thirties) who seem to produce most women's s zines.

While women and girls of all types participate in zine culture, "Riot Grrrl" zines are generally understood to have greatly influenced women's zine culture. It is important to remember, however, that not all women-produced zines are Riot Grrrl zines and not all female zine producers would necessarily identify with the movement. Riot Grrrl was a social movement, located primarily in North America, comprised of "a network of young women linked by zines and bands" (Duncombe, 1997, p. 8). (3) Like zine culture, most of the girls involved in Riot Grrrl were white and middle class. Riot Grrrl is generally believed to have begun in Washington, DC in 1991, with the intent "to make girls and women more involved in DC's predominantly white, male punk scene" (Rosenberg and Garofalo, 1998, p. 809). It is unclear whether girls used zines to create the network, or if it was created through bands and concerts, but what is clear is that zines became a central element of the movement. Riot Grrrl is only one facet of what is often called third-wave feminism.

Third Wave Feminism

Feminism is constantly changing and shifting, attempting to incorporate numerous views and survive differences. In recent years, the concept of a third wave of feminism has gained attention from both feminists and the mass media. An exact definition of third-wave feminism does not exist, but there are some characteristics of this new feminism that help to identify it and distinguish it from the previous wave. (4)

In their introduction to Third Wave Agenda: Being Feminist, Doing Feminism, Leslie Heywood and Jennifer Drake define that third-wave feminism as "a generational perspective, gathering the voices of young feminists struggling to come to terms with the historical specificity of our feminisms and with the times in which we came of age (the late 1970s through the late 1980s)" (Heywood and Drake, 1997, p. 2). The third wave is generally understood to be a feminist movement of young women who did not have the same experiences as second-wave feminists; third wave feminists have spent most of their lives surrounded by feminism and its ideas. They have grown up with various real-life experiences of feminism and with representations of it, neither of which always lived up to their own feminist ideals.

As a result of living with both feminism and the cultural backlash against it, "navigating feminism's contradictions--historical, cultural, psychological--is a primary theme of third-wave feminism" (Orr, 1997, p.31). There is a departure from previous feminist work that in some respects focussed on political action. Third-wave feminists, according to Heywood and Drake, "often take cultural production and sexual politics as key sites of struggle, seeking to use desire and pleasure as well as anger to fuel struggles for justice" (p. 4). Cultural production is one of the central methods of engagement. The act of producing cultural products serves to incorporate and introduce new ideas into public discussion and link women together to explore new issues. Zines are one aspect of third-wave feminist activity and this paper explores some of the possibilities and limitations of this medium for feminist action.

Examination of Zines

The zines discussed here were collected through mail order and women's bookstores, between November 1999 and March 2000. The criteria for selecting zines was that they were produced by women, or groups of women, and that their content dealt somewhat with women's and girls' issues.

The style and content of the zines collected are extremely varied and it is impossible to explain the characteristics of each one here. My analysis is meant to demonstrate what opportunities and limitations women-produced zines hold for feminism. The analysis is divided into themes reflecting a number of the elements of third-wave feminism, including cultural production, autobiography, reclamation of language and culture, and critique of mainstream culture. It attempts to draw out some of the more salient examples of how the women-produced zines collected reflect third-wave feminism. (5)

Editors of women-produced zines help to encourage cultural production by reviewing and discussing work done by other women in their zines. In her zine Queen of the Universe, Jeannette Ordas interviews independent filmmaker Sarah Jacobson and reviews other zines produced by women--a common element of the zines collected. Another version of this encouragement to produce occurs when zine editors thank others for their help with the zine. For example, Mystery Date editor Lynn Peril thanks readers for sending her the information she uses to create her zine, such as books and other publications. Other zines such as FanGirl and Beautiful Bras and Bodyhair include short biographies of their contributors.

Legionella's Manifesto: Strange Attractor directly discusses cultural production. The zine is a collection of 13 statements on various issues. Statement #5 argues, "we R culture breakers and culture makers we will remix their myths and follow our bliss," and statement #10 encourages readers to create cultural products in order to ensure history is not lost: "we will document & archive our stories--so our histories can never be lost again--so that each succeeding generation does not have to start from scratch in an indifferent world."

Some of the zines collected were very heavily autobiographical. The best example of this is The East Village INKY which is described by editor Ayun Halliday, as "the continuing adventures of a 34-year-old mother and a 3-thumbed 2-year-old in New York City's EAST VILLAGE." The zine contains short stories, comics, and anecdotes about the editor and her child. In the "High Horse" section of the zine, Halliday openly enters into political space and discusses her parenting philosophy (she writes that she has become aware that she is the "2nd most permissive mother" in her neighborhood) and her views on breast feeding toddlers.

The producer of zines such as Liliane in Anti-Porn Fanatic and The adventuresome and action-packed life of Butler Biggest!!, Leanne Franson, openly admits that her comics are partially autobiographical: "yes this is based on Butler's life but incidents have been fictionalized." Unlike Halliday in The East Village INKY, Franson does not have a section of her zine that is openly political. However, in Liliane in Anti-Porn Fanatic, the main character Liliane struggles with feminist politics concerning pornography. While no conclusions are reached, simply creating this space in her zine allows Franson to explain some of the conflicting feelings women have on the issue.

Autobiography is a central element of the zine Fan Girl, produced by Sarah Kuhn. FanGirl is, in Kuhn's words, "a publication meant to celebrate bonding over our shared geekiness and to champion sci-fi / fantasy's current plethora of kickass chicks." Kuhn's zine is full of stories by herself and contributors about their experiences of being fans. For example, contributor Megan Connolly describes her experiences at a fan convention in "Joxer and the Xenites."

Third-wave feminists often work to reclaim language and activities that are elements of women's and girls' culture. FanGirl and Mystery Date are the best examples of zines that celebrate girls' culture. FanGirl writers use words such as girl, sisters, geek, and chick in their articles and discuss various female science fiction characters, from Jane Fonda's character Barbarella in the film Barbarella, Queen of the Galaxy, to the more contemporary Sarah Michelle Gellar as Buffy in the television show Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Mystery Date also reclaims women's and girls' culture, but does not focus so heavily on popular culture. Instead, Mystery Date's editor, Peril, discusses elements of women's culture such as bras and feminine hygiene.

Others also attempt to reclaim some of the messy parts of women's and girls' culture. In Wive's Tales and Hot Pantz, the editors discuss women's health issues including menstruation, vaginal infections, and sexually transmitted diseases-topics often considered taboo. C.U.N. T. is another zine that reclaims a part of women's and girls' culture that is often ignored by the mainstream. It is a zine about women who cycle and also has articles about female skateboarders, including a comic on the subject of women trying to find a place in the male-dominated world of skateboarding.

In The Search for the Meaning of Life, editor M. Stanton criticizes the comic industry for being "created by and for men." By making this criticism in her own cultural production, she demonstrates that zines are a viable alternative to mainstream culture and a place where women comic artists can have their work published. Many of the zines collected criticize mainstream culture in review sections or discussions about cultural products. For example, in The East Village INKY, Halliday reviews a book on midwives and criticizes it for its portrayal of women: "it really yanks my chain that it's aimed at female readers & all the female characters seem so fake & humorless & far off the mark."

Other zine editors, such as Ordas of Queen of the Universe, and Kuhn of Fan Girl, criticize mainstream culture aimed at women and girls while also celebrating it. These editors highlight another element of third-wave feminism: contradiction. In Queen of the Universe, Ordas comments on the television program The View. In "When the Personal Isn't Political," she wonders, "Why am I so fascinated by The View?" She realizes that it is "soul-sucking, standardized trash," but admits that she still enjoys watching it. In a Fan Girl article, "Blast From the Past," a contributor discusses her love of science fiction television shows, but also reveals her dissatisfaction with the lack of characters who are girlfriends.

Some of the zines do not broach the subject of popular culture specifically, but criticize the organization and structure of the society at large. Wive's Tales and Hot Pantz are the best examples of this. These two zines are women's health resources. They contain information on herbal treatments and remedies for various women's health issues such as menstruation, infections, and contraception. The editors of both zines argue that the medical establishment has too much power over women's bodies.

Analysis and Conclusion

Perhaps the most important characteristic of zines for feminism is their ability to make women and girls cultural producers. Women-produced zines provide an alternative to mainstream culture, and their existence demonstrates to other girls and women that they can also produce culture rather than consume it. According to Duncombe, "what is so radical about zines is not the writing, but the form. A form that says to anyone who picks it up: You can Do-It-Yourself, stop buying culture made for you and make your own" (Duncombe, quoted. in Bigge, 2000, p. 17).

By creating their own cultural products, women and girls are creating their own space--a space that can be used not only to explore women's lives, but also to criticize mainstream culture and raise political awareness. Cathryn Bailey argues that the fact that zine producers and younger feminists "focus so much on cultural images may not represent a retreat from reality as much as an appreciation for how much of our reality is mediated through such images" (Bailey, on-line, n.p.).

Feminists can use zines to share their experiences of political awareness and to connect with other women who have similar concerns and beliefs. As Jen Smith argues, processes of cultural production by feminists "construct both a physical and psychic space for articulating our realities. By connecting with one another in these different spaces, we both create and participate in the making of our identities and our community" (Smith, 1997, p. 238).

Another possibility zines offer to feminists is their ability to reach women and girls outside of academia. Zines are typically created and read by younger women who may not identify with second-wave feminism and/or be interested in Women's Studies programs. Zines may provide opportunities for second- and third-wave feminists (or older and younger feminists) to share information and communicate their ideas, since younger feminists may be reluctant to enter the institutions of second-wave feminism but may be more likely to read zines.

Despite the many possibilities zines provide for feminism, their format also creates some limitations for feminist activity. Perhaps the most obvious and important limitation of zines is their ability to only reach a small audience. For the most part, zines have very small print runs and are not read by very many people. This limits the impact they can have on society, since most people will never be aware of a zine's existence let alone go through the process of obtaining and reading it. While zines are theoretically an effective way to communicate with others, the underground culture in which they most often exist places restrictions on them and limits the possibilities they have for effectively communicating ideas between large numbers of people. Since the overarching goal of feminism is to affect social change, this is a major limitation of using zines for feminist activity.

There are some women-produced zines that have started to make the transition to become more mainstream publications. Magazines such as BUST and Bitch (both formerly zines) have been able to expand their readership, demonstrating the possibility of overcoming the problem of the small reach of zines through mainstreaming the publication. While mainstreaming zines introduces new challenges and limitations for feminist activity, such as the conflict between maintaining an underground mentality and accepting advertising, it is still too early in the process of mainstreaming to determine its overall effects.

Another important limitation of zines for feminist activity is the type of political activity they represent and encourage. Third-wave feminists and zine producers mainly approach in cultural production and criticism by individuals as political action. Bailey openly critiques this form of political activism:

Although there is tremendous variety among third wave material, one of the most worrisome features of the music and zines is the tendency to focus on a narrowly construed type of individual expression without drawing out deeper political implications. It is one of the most insidious strategies of patriarchy to acknowledge feminist insights only to reinscribe them as individual women's problems to solve rather than as societal ones. (Bailey, on-line, n.p.)

As discussed before, both third wave feminists and women zine producers incorporate many autobiographical elements into their work. While this characteristic of zines provides opportunities for women to reflect on and share their experiences with others, the focus on the personal may overshadow the political. While some women zine producers use their personal experiences to encourage broad political activity, many producers overwhelmingly focus on the personal and fail to connect those personal experiences with characteristics of the larger society.

Critiquing mainstream cultural images and creating alternatives cannot substitute for political activism that is directly aimed at changing social structures and inequalities on a broader level. While the failure of many zines to reach the level of broad political activity is an important limitation to acknowledge, it is unwise to assume that zines and zine production cannot lead to, and influence, political activity. Further study, including research incorporating the voices of women zine producers and readers, will be necessary to determine how effective zines are in encouraging political activism. More research also needs to be done concerning the women who produce zines and their experiences as cultural producers. And more in-depth studies of the role zines play in feminism is required. The current trend towards mainstreaming some women-produced zines, and the growing phenomenon of ezines, should also be monitored to determine what possibilities they may offer for feminist activism.

Appendix A -- List of Women-Produced Zines Collected

Please be aware that some of this information may already be out of date. It is advisable to send a postcard or email to the editor asking for updated information and prices before sending cash. Some of these zines may be out-of-print or unavailable.

The adventuresome and action-packed life of Butler Biggest!! ($3)

Leanne Franson

PO Box 274

Succ. Place du Parc

Montreal, QC

H2H 2N8

Canada

Beautiful Bras and Bodyhair ($2.50)

5-596 St. Clair Ave. W

Toronto, ON

M6C 1A6

Canada

beautifulbb@hotmail.com

C.U.N.T ($1CDN, $2US)

PO Box 1042

Station F

Toronto, ON

M4Y 2T7

Canada cuntzine@yahoo.com

The East Village INKY ($2)

Ayun Halliday

406E 9th St #7

NYC, NY

10009

USA

inky@erols.com

FanGirl (price unknown)

Sarah Kuhn

PO Box 9353

Oakland, CA

94613

USA

fangirlzine@yahoo.com

Hot Pantz ($5)

3467 University

Montreal, QC

H2A 2B3

Canada

bloodsisters@chickmail.com

Legionella's Manifesto: Strange Attractor (price unknown)

Dirty Babettes

c/o Christy Cameron

306 Bathurst

Toronto, ON

M5T 2S3

Canada

Liliane in Anti-Porn Fanatic ($1.50)

Leanne Franson

PO Box 274

Succ. Place du Parc

Montreal, QC

H2W 2N8

Canada

Mystery Date ($2)

Lynn Peril

PO Box 641592

SF, CA

94164-1592

USA

peril@serius.com

Queen of the Universe ($2)

Jeannette Ordas

1340 Woodland Drive

Vancouver, BC

V5L 3S3

Canada

nettiequeen@hotmail.com

The Search for the Meaning of Life

($1CDN, $1.50US)

M. Stanton

1-4015 Coloniale

Montreal, QC

H2W 2B9

Canada

Wives Tales (price unknown)

Britton

PO Box 81332

San Diego, CA

92138 USA

(you can also contact blood

sisters for a copy -- blood

sisters, do Concordia

QPIRG, Rm. 101/2130 Mackay,

Montreal, QC, H3G 2J1, Canada)

Notes

(1.) For examples, see Krista Scott-Dixon, "Ezines and Feminist Activism: Building a Community," Resources for Feminist Research/Documentation sur la recherche feministe, vol. 27, nos. 1/2 (Spring/Summer 1999), pp. 127-132, and Mary Celeste Kearney, "Producing Girls: Rethinking the Study of Female Youth Culture," in Delinquents and Debutantes: Twentieth-Century American Girls' Cultures, Sheffie A. Inness, ed. (New York: New York University Press, 1998), pp. 285-310.

(2.) See Stephen Duncombe, Notes From Underground: Zines and the Politics of Alternative Culture (London: Verso, 1997), pp. 9-13, for a categorization and explanation of various types of zines.

(3.) For more information about the history and politics of Riot Grrrl, see Melissa Klein, "Duality and Redefinition: Young Feminism and the Alternative Music Community," in Third Wave Agenda: Being Feminist, Doing Feminism, Leslie Heywood and Jennifer Drake, eds. (Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1997), pp. 207-225, and Jessica Rosenberg and Gitana Garofalo, "Riot Grrrl: Revolutions from Within," Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society vol. 23, no. 3 (Spring 1998), pp. 804-841.

(4.) For examples of published third-wave feminist work, see Barbara Findlen, ed., Listen Up: Voices From the Next Feminist Generation (Seattle: Seal Press, 1995), Rebecca Walker, ed., To Be Real: Telling the Truth and Changing the Face of Feminism (Toronto: Anchor Books, 1995), and Leslie Heywood and Jennifer Drake, eds., Third Wave Agenda. Being Feminist, Doing Feminism (Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1997).

(5.) Please note that no citations will be used in this section due to the nature of the material being referenced. Most zines do not contain page numbers and those that do often do not follow a logical order. For these reasons, only the zine names will be used to reference content. For a list of the zines collected and information on how to order them, please see Appendix A.

References

Bailey, Cathryn. "When Girls Just Wanna Have Fun: Third Wave Cultural Engagement as Political Activism." Internet. November 23, 1999. Available: http://krypton.mankato.msus.edu/~bailec/thirdwave.htm.

Bigge, Ryan. "Notes from Underground: Reassessing the State of Zinery with Prof. Stephen Duncombe." Broken Pencil vol. 12 (Spring 2000), pp. 16-17.

Chu, Julie. "Navigating the Media Environment: How Youth Claim a Place Through Zines." Social Justice vol. 24, no. 3 (Fall 1997), pp. 7l-85.

Duncombe, Stephen. Notes From Underground: Zines and tire Politics of Alternative Culture. London: Verso, 1997.

Findlen, Barbara, ed. Listen Up: Voices From tire Next Feminist Generation. Seattle: Seal Press, 1995.

Friedman, R. Seth, ed. The Factsheet Five Zine Reader: The Best Writing from the Underground World of Zines. New York: Three Rivers Press, 1997.

Green, Karen and Tristan Taormino, eds. A Girl's Guide to Taking Over the World: Writings from the Girl Zine Revolution. New York: St. Martin's Griffin, 1997.

Heywood, Leslie and Jennifer Drake. "Introduction," in Third Wave Agenda, Heywood and Drake, eds., pp. 1-20.

Heywood, Leslie and Jennifer Drake, eds. Third Wave Agenda: Being Feminist, Doing Feminism. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1997.

Kearney, Mary Celeste. "Producing Girls: Rethinking the Study of Female Youth Culture." In Delinquents and Debutantes: Twentieth-Century American Girls' Cultures. Sherrie A. Inness, ed. New York: New York University Press, 1998, pp. 285-310.

Klein, Melissa. "Duality and Redefinition: Young Feminism and the Alternative Music Community." In Third Wave Agenda, Heywood and Drake, eds., pp. 207-225.

Orr, Catherine M. "Charting the Currents of the Third Wave." Hypatia vol. 12, no. 3 (Summer 1997), pp. 29-45.

Rosenberg, Jessica and Gitana Garofalo. "Riot Grrrl: Revolutions from Within." Signs vol. 23, no. 3 (Spring 1998), pp. 804-841.

Scott-Dixon, Krista. "Ezines and Feminist Activism: Building a Community." Resources for Feminist Research/Documentation sur la recherche feministe vol. 27, nos. 1/2 (Spring/Summer 1999), pp. 127-132.

Smith, Jen. "Doin' It for the Ladies--Youth Feminism: Cultural Productions/Cultural Activism." In Third Wave Agenda, Heywood and Drake, eds. pp. 226-238.

Walker, Rebecca, ed. To Be Real: Telling the Truth and Changing the Face of Feminism. Toronto: Anchor Books, 1995.

Brandi Bell has a Bachelor of Arts in Communication and Women's Studies from the University of Ottawa and is currently a graduate student in the School of Communication at Simon Fraser University. When not reading women-produced zines, she may be found exploring issues of gender, technology, and third wave feminism.