BITCHfest: Ten Years of Cultural Criticism from the Pages of Bitch…

Satiating. Good to read, like bell hooks, just after a class in which a few loud students are insisting that feminists are merely man haters, and racism is a thing of the past.

some of the articles in the magazine itself are pretty out there. like, my little ponies teach little girls how to raise their humps and bat their big, dilated eyes. i'm not saying it's bad to question the toys we hand our kids, but still. the fare in the book is a bit more selective.

these collected articles tackle some pressing issues in just the ways i want them tackeled. for once. ( )

Satiating. Good to read, like bell hooks, just after a class in which a few loud students are insisting that feminists are merely man haters, and racism is a thing of the past.

some of the articles in the magazine itself are pretty out there. like, my little ponies teach little girls how to raise their humps and bat their big, dilated eyes. i'm not saying it's bad to question the toys we hand our kids, but still. the fare in the book is a bit more selective.

these collected articles tackle some pressing issues in just the ways i want them tackeled. for once. ( )

A great collection of essays from Bitch magazine, organized thematically.

Never really read the magazine except for maybe one issue. Gave me a lot to think about that I'm still kicking around. Would like to read more. ( )

The easiest way to sum up my impression is that I'd never read the magazine when I started this book, and when I was done, I ordered a (prepaid) subscription. I've still read very little on feminism, so even the presumably standard stuff was novel. It was surprisingly not-angry, given the title. Most pieces were just wry, and unnervingly close to resigned. On the other hand, except for one bit in one chapter intro, everything was thoroughly rational and quotable. I particularly liked seeing some of my presumably more out-there views expressed; the ones I've never heard anyone share before. And I still love the bit "[apparently women] use their genitals only as sticky traps in which to catch wedding rings." ( )

Bitch is one of the smartest, funniest, broadest-minded feminist media forces I can think of. Because of the magazine format, these essays are concise and clearly written with the smart, savvy but not necessarily academic reader in mind, and never fail to push my thinking. ( )

bitch: feminist response to pop culture is pretty much one of my favorite magazines evar. It is consistently thought-provoking and intelligent. It does not ignore issues of race and class, which I frequently find absent or superficially dealt with in feminist discourse. It's not glossy (except for the cover). It's not in color. There are no Calvin Klein ads, no thin women splayed out across two pages, selling perfume and shoes. Celebrities and models are never on the cover.

BITCHfest is divided up into 8 sections: Hitting Puberty; Ladies and Gentlemen: Femininity, Masculinity, and Identity; The F Word; Desire: Love, Sex, and Marketing; Domestic Arrangements; Beauty Myths and Body Projects; Confronting the Mainstream; and Talking Back: Activism and Pop Culture. Each section has approximately 4-7 essays. There were 1-3 outstanding ones per section. Obviously, not every article ever printed is in here. Hitting Puberty and Domestic Arrangements were my favorite sections. In the back there is an extensive list of resources, from websites to zines to writers.

It wasn't life-changing, but still very good. And it's nice to have so much Bitch in one volume and not have to dig through the aging, torn magazines I stack in haphazard piles. ( )