home · books · forums · news feeds · polls · chat · search · my account
Home » forums » Discuss! » What Are You Reading?

mama zine readers - what do you look for?

i'm going to be putting together an index of mama/parenting zines. this would enable readers to find articles in various zines on specific topics and/or by specific authors.

if you would be so kind as to answer a couple of questions i'd appreciate it!

what do you look for in a mama zine? are you interested in particular genres or subjects? if so, which ones?

i have the feeling that - if you're like me - you may be interested in mama zines in general and wouldn't necessarily be looking for specific topics. if that's the case, if you could just let me know which types of articles you like the best or that you tend to strongly identify with, in general.

i can give examples if this is unclear.

feel free to post here or PM me, either way is fine.

thanks! :)

By tenderfoot at 06/04/2007 - 10:35pm | What Are You Reading? | previous forum topic | next forum topic

Comment viewing options

Select your preferred way to display the comments and click "Save settings" to activate your changes.

political mama zines

These days, I'm more interested in political mama zines--either zines that are political but also talk about motherhood issues or zines that are by mamas and talk about politics or how to balance politics and motherhood or how to incorporate and meld the both in your life.

I just got a request for the women in prison zine I co-edit (Tenacious: Art and Writings from women in Prison) from a woman looking for zines that would interest a feminist single mama sociology major. I could only come up with a handful of still-running political/sociological mama zines for her and started wondering, "What happened to them all? is the internet eating away at the mama zine subculture?"

Sometimes paper is the only thing that will listen to you.

By PhoenixRising at Mon, 07/16/2007 - 7:58pm |

it does seem as though a

it does seem as though a bunch of the ones that focused on the activist or political have gone by the wayside (at least for now - you never know when someone's going to come out of hiatus, right?). but i also think that many of the ongoing ones have aspects of or pieces about political stuff. it's just not the focus of the entire issue.

(i actually happen to be working on the index project at this very moment - thanks for the input!)

----------
tenderfoot zine * mamaphiles!

By tenderfoot at Tue, 07/17/2007 - 2:44am |

what's the index project?

By the way, what's the index project? What is it for?

Let me know if you come across any activist/political mama zines. Now that I've quit my soulsucking job, I have the energy to see what other like-minded mamas are doing.

By PhoenixRising at Tue, 07/17/2007 - 4:23pm |

I haven't checked out other

I haven't checked out other types of zines, but love most the mama zines I've seen. I agree with all the mamas that like funny--especially if it's the retelling of an event that probably did not feel all that funny at the time, but with a little perspective is hilarious. A little humility goes a long way with me (but that's not really a category, is it?) I'm interested in gender issues--how our kids conform to or defy our (or society's) notions of gender, despite our best intentions. I like stories in which the writer examines her own parenting notions/practices, admits to her mistakes, and/or talks about how she's changed/grown as a parent or what she's trying differently (don't know what you'd call that category--Parenting Foibles?) Also like cartoons, little vignettes or narratives of a parenting moment (good or bad), poetry, reviews, artwork, recipes. Love it all.
GEMINI Mama

By Gemini at Tue, 06/12/2007 - 4:52pm |

that gives me a lot to work

that gives me a lot to work with - thanks!

----------
tenderfoot zine * mamaphiles!

By tenderfoot at Wed, 06/13/2007 - 1:18am |

I haven't read a lot of mama

I haven't read a lot of mama zines (Edgy, Gemini, and the one phoenixrising edits for mamas in jail, whose name escapes me.) But I can tell you what I've liked.

Anything funny, whether it's about mamahood or not. Especially funny stuff about what women did before they became mamas.

Anything about homeschooling, since I do.

Cartoons.

Politics, especially if it's radical, because it's one of the ways I keep up with issues.

Simple stuff that just describes a part of a mama's life, because the reason I write is that I'm really a voyeur ...

By zannaL at Fri, 06/08/2007 - 6:21pm |

thanks, that's really

thanks, that's really helpful. :)

----------
tenderfoot zine * mamaphiles!

By tenderfoot at Sat, 06/09/2007 - 12:39am |

Thanks, mamas! What I look

Thanks, mamas!

What I look for in a mama zine is a well-told story. Could be funny, poignant, insightful or make me cringe, but it's the storytelling that counts for me as a reader.

Miranda: a zine about motherhood and other adventures

By Miranda at Mon, 06/11/2007 - 9:31pm |

I would use Miranda, FG, and

I would use Miranda, FG, and Hausfrau as examples. I like funny parenting stories, birth stories, different parenting points of view and domestic stuff like recipes and sewing. I like compilation zines as well as zines by one author.

By mamalove at Thu, 06/07/2007 - 11:15pm |

thanks!

thanks! :)

----------
tenderfoot zine * mamaphiles!

By tenderfoot at Fri, 06/08/2007 - 6:07am |

Hmmm. I just...like mama

Hmmm. I just...like mama zines in general. I am largely uninterested in other zines (I've liked a few) but have pretty much loved all mama zines. I like politics-of-parenting articles, humorous articles, dark articles...I like the schmaltzy articles less, probably, but I like those very well, too, if they are well done. I like it all. In terms of writers, I probably like whiskeysour and Miranda best and, in terms of overall zines, I probably like(d) The Deep South Mouth and The Edgy-Catin Mama and The Future Generation and Fertile Ground best. If that helps any. I'm not counting HipMama because it's sort of transcended the genre, but , if counted, it's my favorite and Ariel my favorite writer, with whiskeysour very close. But I love them all a ton. Sorry not to be more useful.

By Lone Star Ma at Tue, 06/05/2007 - 4:32am |

thanks, M. that actually was

thanks, M. that actually was helpful. :) i'm trying to come up with categories that readers might want to search for, and i'm pretty much making it up at this point, so any "real" input is useful!

----------
tenderfoot zine * mamaphiles!

By tenderfoot at Tue, 06/05/2007 - 8:40pm |