Girls Publishing Online(?)

Whatever happened to the zine? More specifically, is the era of the grrrlzine over? These might be the inquiries of a co/counter-cultural outsider, but I do pose them in earnest. Schilt and Zobl argue that "the ethos of the Riot Grrrl movement continues today through the production of grrrl zines" (171). The grrl zine network is still accessible, but how recently has it been "up and running?" The emphasis on zines in girl and grrrl culture may have been easy to spot in the early 2000s, but the proliferation of new media formats online (blogging, social networking) have perhaps contributed to even more localized activist communities where girls can publish posts, status, and comments, rather than articles, interviews, and editorials. The most visible girls' websites that might be categorized as "zines" are not necessarily authored by girls - gurl.com, for example, is "a property of" Alloy Media + Marketing - so it's important to consider these outlets critically and perhaps trouble the zine concept (or, dare I say, the co-option of the zine concept). I don't mean to suggest that either methodology (zine V. blog) is more rhetorically and/or materially effective - I think there may be a nostalgic tone to my search for the long-lost zine - but I do think there is a need to re-survey the world of online publishing by and for girls and consider the implications of those modes for girl culture broadly.

Reference: Schilt, Kristen, and Elke Zobl. "Connecting the Dots: Riot Grrrls, Ladyfests, and the International Grrrl Zine Network." In Next Wave Cultures: Feminism, Subcultures, Activism, edited by Anita Harris, 171-192. NY: Routledge, 2008.

Image from grrrlzines.net