I haven’t written here in forever. I’m really not into my job right now, and as a result am spending much of my time working on my resume, writing cover letters, applying for jobs, and completely destressing by watching as much terrible television as possible. I’m about two weeks away from starting to watch the Hills. Lord beer me strength, I never want that to happen. Anyway, I decided to take just a few minutes to alert people who stumble here to what’s going on over at Bitch.
I first read Bitch, jeez, almost ten years ago. I think it was like 1999 or something. I had read Bust a few times before, mostly before it became a glossy, while their website was seldom updated, and it still retained a bit more of a strictly feminist edge. None of this fashion spread and knitting crap. I mean, I love love love knitting and other fiber arts. I really consider fiber arts my biggest and sometimes only talent. But I don’t consider embroidery to be a feminist act.
Bitch isn’t that kind of feminist magazine. Bitch is for women who want to be a feminist and want to read about feminist issues that are actually issues – not how to buy your own house, sandwiched between shoes and makeup. Bitch is like Ms. but skewed a bit younger. It’s intense and sometimes a little scary. And for someone who’s been consistently reading the magazine for almost ten years, their current situation is kind of intense and scary. A couple of years ago, Bitch’s distributor went bankrupt. It was kind of a huge thing for independent media. Punk Planet folded because of it. Bitch barely made it through. And now they’re struggling to come up with the printing costs for their next issue. They need $40,000 to print the issue. Bitch has, according to what I’ve read online, raised about $15,000 so far, but they need another $25,000 by October 15. If they don’t get it, they’re done. There goes a major source for feminist voices, one that can influence and inspire young women to announce themselves as feminists. If you have a few extra dollars (which I know is hard in the current economy), I totally suggest donating them to Bitch. It’s non-profit, tax-deductible, and a good cause. Or, well, I think so anyway.
