hi friends & supporters of hoax,
as we continue to create issues of hoax, our costs and distributing abilities become even more thinly spread. for financial reasons, we are only able to print and circulate four issues of hoax at a time. we are currently in the process of finishing up with assembling hoax #7 - feminisms & change. after much consideration, we have decided to stop distributing hoax #3 - feminisms & health after the release of our seventh issue. we are doing one last print & have put twenty-six (26) copies of #7 on etsy. the copies of #3 on etsy and the last ones either of us will possess. ever. check out our etsy store to obtain a copy.
in solidarity,
rachel & sari
get them while they still exist folks.
[video]
im sick fucking of the queer community at large propagating the bullshit dichotomy between feminine and “femme.” i.e. that feminine = something that others put on you / apolitical / some male gazey shit whereas “femme” = reclaimed femininity on one’s own terms as an act of rah rah empowerment. its really fucking gross & anti-woman to make the blanket assumption that folks who happen to be feminine-presenting / hold traditionally “feminine” interests but aren’t into talking about queering their makeup collection are puppets of patriarchy. gender expression is not always a progressive or political act. sometimes it is but you can also still have agency & be critical / anti-patriarchy without making youtube videos about your political decision to wear fishnets.
the only thing that really differentiates feminine from “femme” is that the later is a cultural signifier. nothing is inherently wrong with that - in fact, i totally get the importance of using language that links you to a community of others with similar interests & who engaged in similar struggles. but we have to remember that this said community primarily young / white / western / educated. and that, for some of us, gender expression and play is not our primary tool of resistance.
(btw yes, i am referring to the first minute or so of this video. i stopped watching after the first bit because i was too busy yawning. but yeah, this isn’t the first time i’ve heard these arguments).
cat was found. thank the lord. back to sleep.
happy fucking saturday, my landlord came to fix the ac and left the door to both our apt and our apt complex open. i woke up to find that our cat is missing. she doesnt have a collar bc she never goes outside. tumblr please pray for me.
iymi:
Swearin’ - New self-titled record up for FREE DOWNLOAD at IYMI!
http://www.ifyoumakeit.com/album/swearin/swearin/I was really glad that Jeff asked me to put this record up. If you loved the demo, download this. If you didn’t, you are a ding dong, and not of the chocolate variety.
When I first heard the Swearin’ demo, I listened to it for 5 hours straight. I was completely blown away. Sometimes a band just wakes you up, you hear the same chords and melodies and beats and ideas all the time and then someone comes along and just has it RIGHT, and you wonder what the fuck everyone else has been doing wrong the whole time. That’s simultaneously the best and worst thing about pop music: it’s easy and completely accessible to everyone, which means there is a whole hell of a lot of it. The best pop bands can just feel it, it’s intuitive and natural and it makes them the envy of all the nerds pouring over stacks of records and trying to figure out the trick. Kyle and Allison can write some goddamn songs, and they are blessed with one of the finest rhythm sections around. It’s just one of those perfect situations where everyone fits into their role so perfectly that this band with anyone else in it wouldn’t be half as good. This new record reaffirms how good they are at Henry’s Dress-meets-Superchunk-covering-Fastbacks punk pop, and throws in some tender GBV/Unrest style lo-fi jams for good measure. That’s some heavy name dropping and I don’t take that shit lightly. These kids are the real deal. - Sam Cook-Parrott
Swearin’ is going on tour really soon. Check out dates here!
(via cestuncoupdetat)
“Beyoncé isn’t Beyoncé because she reads comments on the Internet. Beyoncé is in Ibiza, wearing a stomach necklace, walking hand in hand with her hot boyfriend. She’s going on the yacht and having a mimosa. She’s not reading shitty comments about herself on the Internet, and we shouldn’t either. I just think, Would Beyoncé be reading this? No, she would just delete it or somebody would delete it for her. What I really need to do is close the computer and then talk back to that voice and say, Fuck you. I don’t give a shit what you think. I’m Beyoncé. I’m going to Ibiza with Jay-Z now, fuck off. Being criticized is part of the job, but seeking it out isn’t. That’s our piece to let go.” — Kathleen Hanna, interviewed by Melissa Febos in BOMBLOG (via dandyprof)
(via tukru-perkele)
so, femmecon is coming to baltimore. they will be meeting / partying only a few blocks away. that’s cool i guess, maybe i’ll go get a drink with everybody. but i have to admit, i don’t really get it. by it, i mean why the hell folks would travel across the across the country & pay $60-$100 to attend a femme-specific conferen$$$e in order to “explore, discuss, dissect, and support queer femme as a transgressive, gender-queer, stand-alone, and empowered identity” when you can be talking about the underlying issues behind almost all “femme problems” - heterosexism / homophobia & misogyny - in your communities for free. i’m not judging, i totally get that “femme” is really important to many folks. i guess i’ve just never personally prioritized gender expression as a focal point for community-building. i mean, i’m feminine-presenting and deal with “invisibility” shit all the time. but, given how shitty this world is to almost all women and queers, a narrow focus on “femme” alone seems like the lowest priority. i guess it upsets me on some level how femmecon-este stuff is almost unanimously seen as “progressive” amongst queers whereas self-selecting / non-gender essentialist “women’s spaces” which focus on healing from the violence that is pretty much inevitably if you have, at some point, been read as female are consistently bashed across the board.
i guess it’s cool that they have a scent policy though.
“feminism is my tagline and I cling to it with good reason—not because it nails down an identity, but because I insist upon its fluidity.” — my amazing girlfriend
A split zine by two of my favourite zinesters! Heather and Jami each write about being librarians, but have very unique voices. Jami can offer deadpan sarcasm and bittersweet tales where Heather writes lighthearted amusing anecdotes and heartfelt tales and lists. Both sides have moments that can be laugh-out-loud funny, charming… or anger-inducing (the things dudes do in libraries!). Heather writes about libraries as a safe space, creating a zine collection, and working with teens. Jami writes about leaving Detroit, working in a zoo library, and teaching people how to use the internet. She also shares tidbits about all the libraries she’s known. This is a really sweet and fun read.
This one has actually been in stock for a while, but it took me ages to write the description. I’m still working on descriptions for a lot of ‘em. Get it at Fight Boredom Distro.
A great read. Jami and Heather are the best.
thanks you all!
this is actually one of my all time favorite zines! totally worth reading!
[video]
well, that last post effectively got two radscum blogs to unfollow me. but now i’m back on cb’s shit list. cb obviously hasn’t read any of my past posts. i’ve written in great detail about the many layers of misogyny which i think are deeply embedded within contemporary queer politics. i mean hell, i even linked to my zine “not queer as in radical but lesbian as in fuck you” in that last post! instead, she has categorically labeled me a hipster. um whatever, my passion for cat sweaters does not overshadow my passion for critical feminist thought. but yeah, bash me if you wanna because i’m one of ”those” people with “those” sorta friends. ironic cause that’s a legit enactment of groupthink.
what’s ironic is that i am actually one of seemingly few who has not learned my feminism online. i was raised by a “second waver” who facilitated consciousness raising groups in the 70’s & i read rad feminist classics throughout both high school and college. i have consistently defended “second wave” on this blog.
i’ve consciously chosen to resist essentialism in all forms because i have personally witnessed how that mindset perpetuates violence. hell, biological determinism hurts women more frequently than anybody else. transfeminism is pushing the feminist movement forward to stretch our understanding of the variations within the category of “woman,” and that is only making feminism stronger. cis feminists like myself only benefit from listening to the stories of others who have been targets of gender violence. because when we bear witness to the struggles of others, we learn better strategies of resist multiple forms of oppression in our daily lived experiences.
eww radscum blogs, why are you suddenly following me?
(being skeptical of how queer politics tend to perpetuate misogyny both online and is the realosphere, as well as the focus on perceptions of identities rather than lived experiences, is not the same as being trans-critical. being transgender is a lived experience, asshats. my posts/zine regarding the reclaimation of a lesbian identity was written to articulate my personal concerns as a cis woman, not to argue against or belittle other people’s realities. also, there is no single model of “woman;” anatomitical determinism has so many violent consquences that ruin of the lives of folks of all genders on multiple levels).
damn, it feels good to be a gay witch