(2.5 – 3 hours estimated time to complete)
Purpose: The purpose of this assignment is to create a digital feminist zine on a course-related topic and assess the Communication Learning Objective. Zines are self-published, small circulation books that seek to create social change and have an important roles in feminist movements. Zines will engage feminist knowledge (course terminology, concepts, and theories), intersectional analysis, and your personal experiences and identities.
What is a zine? Zine is short for “magazine” and are best described as independent, self-published, small circulation books. Fanzines emerged as early as the 1930s among fans of science fiction. In later decades, zines circulated as underground publications that focused on social and political activism in the ’60s. By the ’70s, zines were popular on the punk rock circuit, and in the ’90s, the feminist punk scene propelled the medium. Check out these zine examples:
- Yes Ma’am Zine – San Antonio-based zine
- Undergraduate Feminist Zines from Chapman University
What is the role and purpose of feminist e-zines? Zines seek to counter consumerism and commodification and are not made for profit, rather, zines center marginalized voices and perspectives that are not often found in mainstream media. Third wave feminist e-zines in particular convey important messages that seek to improve conditions for women, girls, and other marginalized groups. Creating zines with multiple contributors offers an outlet for creative self-expression and serves as tools for social change and community-building. The broader purpose of a zine may be to critique, question, inspire, educate, inform, resist, and re-appropriate.
Click on the image below to view a collection of zines from past UTSA WGSS students. When analyzing these zines, consider the following:
1. What is the zine’s message(s) and purpose?
2. Who is the audience?
3. What action might the zine creators want us to take?
4. What would you ask the creators?
What impacted you the most? Visit Book Creator, create a free account with a Gmail account, and enter the code: YYGCLQT. You may add yourself as a collaborator on a particular zine, if you are working with a partner or group. Otherwise, click the “+” sign in the top right to create a new book.
Required zine elements:
- Front cover with your name
- 4 pages of creative content ****Remember, the content and format of your zine will be decided by you but should focus on a course topic and engage an intersectional analysis and your personal experiences and identities. Use images, art, words, quotes, advertisements, photos, poetry, personal photos, etc. Be creative!
- Back cover with list of sources and URLs used (no need for MLA citation style)
Optional elements:
- Table of Contents
- “Letter to the Reader” or Dedication page
How do I add content? Create your content with the + sign in the top right corner. Your work will save automatically. Design and format the content with the “i” icon. No need to submit in Blackboard.
Each student will also submit an individual 200 word “artist statement” as a Word Doc in this Blackboard assignment. An artist statement is piece of writing that helps the audience access or understand your artistic work. It is written in the first person. Please respond to the following in your artist statement in a bulleted list:
- Zine title, pages you contributed
- What is the zine’s core message? How does the zine connect to course topics/themes and engage an intersectional lens?
- Why did you choose to focus on this topic? Consider your influences (cultural, historical, theoretical, personal)
- Who is the intended audience, and what do you hope they gain?
- What was your personal process and experience making the zine.
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