Kinkos and glue sticks and staples, o my

     In the decades before folks began to build personal brands on the internet, a great many people expressed themselves through zines. 

     Zines -- short for "fan magazines," at least originally -- are DIY publications, usually created by hand, on the cheap. The average zinemaker deploys scissors, magazine clippings, glue sticks, art supplies, and a whole lot of idiosyncratic passion to produce unique publications. Just about every subculture has zines dedicated to it. They are the punk rock of print.

Never mind the bollocks, we got zines

    Back in the 90s, zines garnered more than usual mainstream attention thanks to their association with things like the Riot Grrrl movement. (Hello, Sleater-Kinney and Bikini Kill!) Then the World Wide Web came along, and a lot of zinesters thought "why spend all my spare cash at Kinko's and distribute my stuff at local cafes when I can build a website and spread my thoughts around the world?"  

    Nevertheless, zines have persisted. They remain an excellent medium to discover the kind of voices not often heard in the ever-more-corporate media. And now there are libraries dedicated to them, not only at institutions like Barnard College but on the ever-more-corporate internet. 

     In fact, if you'd like to explore this particular medium, you can check out the NYC Feminist Zinefest at Barnard on April 6th, back for the first time since COVID struck. It's free, so you won't need to confirm your any of your passwords to access it!