BITCHfest Ten Years of Cultural Criticism from the Pages of Bitch Magazine

In the wake ofSassyand as an alternative to the more staid reporting ofMs., Bitchwas launched in the mid-nineties as a Xerox-and-staple zine covering the landscape of popular culture from a feminist perspective. Both unabashed in its love for the guilty pleasures of consumer culture and deeply thoughtful about the way the pop landscape reflects and impacts women's lives,Bitchgrew to be a popular, full-scale magazine with a readership that stretched worldwide. Today it stands as a touchstone of hip, young feminist thought, looking with both wit and irreverence at the way pop culture informs feminism--and vice versa--and encouraging readers to think critically about the messages lurking behind our favorite television shows, movies, music, books, blogs, and the like.BITCHFestoffers an assortment of the most provocative essays, reporting, rants, and raves from the magazine's first ten years, along with new pieces written especially for the collection. Smart, nuanced, cranky, outrageous, and clear-eyed, the anthology covers everything from a 1996 celebration of pre-scandal Martha Stewart to a more recent critical look at the "gayby boom"; from a time line of black women on sitcoms to an analysis of fat suits as the new blackface; from an attempt to fashion a feminist vulgarity to a reclamation of female virginity. It's a recent history of feminist pop-culture critique and an arrow toward feminism's future. Lisa Jervisis the founding editor and publisher ofBitch.She lectures regularly about media and feminism on college campuses nationwide and is a founding member of the training and advocacy organization Women in Media & News. Her writing has appeared inMs., theSan Francisco Chronicle,LiP:Informed Revolt,Salon,Punk Planet,The Bust Guide to the New Girl Order(Penguin), andWomen Who Eat(Seal Press). Andi Zeisler isBitch's founding editor and current editorial/creative director. Her writing has appeared inMs.,Mother Jones,Bust,Utne, theSan Francisco Chronicle, theWomen'sReview of Books, and the anthologiesYoung Wives' TalesandSecrets and Confidences. Bitchwas launched in the mid-'90s as a xerox-and-staple zine covering the pop landscape from a girl's-eye view. Both unabashed in its love for the guilty pleasures of consumer culture and deeply thoughtful about the way that culture reflects and impacts women's lives,Bitchstands today as a touchstone of hip, young feminist thought, looking with both wit and irreverence at the manner in which pop culture informs feminism--and vice versa--and encouraging readers to think critically about the messages lurking behind their favorite television shows, movies, music, books, blogs, and the like. BITCHfestoffers an assortment of the most provocative essays, reporting, rants, and raves from the magazine's first ten years, along with new pieces written especially for the collection. Smart, nuanced, cranky, outrageous, and clear-eyed, BITCHfest is a recent history of feminist pop-culture critique and a taste of feminism's future. "As delicious as a day spent with your funniest, smartest friend, this collection is also a call to action, inspiring readers to fight the fear of female power. As the many writers in here show, few wrongs are righted without a bitchfest first."--Cristina Page, author ofHow the Pro-Choice Movement Saved America: Freedom, Politics and the War on Sex"Bitchfestis a collection of some ofBitch's most provocative essays. Topics in

Lisa Jervis is publisher of Bitch and a regular lecturer on media and feminism. Andi Zeisler is Bitch’s editorial/creative director. Both women write regularly for newspapers and magazines nationwide.