Month: November 2015

By the Skin of My Teeth Issue One
Sarah
http://thislunaticexpress.blogspot.com.au/
https://www.etsy.com/au/shop/MoosZineCorner

I love all sorts of zines, but perzines are definitely my favourite category. I have a fascination with people and how they live their lives.

This perzine focuses on mental health – living with various disorders, experiences in the psych ward, and more. Sarah starts with talking about her great love – her cat, Sabby (Sabastian). I loved reading about him not only because I have a kitty I love in my life but also because it goes to show how much animal companions can mean as to people with mental health issues.

The zine does feel a little less cut and past and a little more typed pages on the computer. But she does get into a bit of drawing, photos, and handwriting, so it starts to get a bit of personality in an aesthetic sense.

While this is a perzine, it’s not strictly bits of memories. There is a book review as well as an interview with herself. I’ve only seen self-interviews a couple times, but I really like them. I think it’s a fun way to get a glimpse into someone’s head. Plus, I appreciate the variety. Heavy stuff needs to be broken up.

All up, this zine felt more like a blog on paper than a zine (I hope that’s a distinction that’s clear), but I enjoyed reading it and will be checking out the next editions.

Sex Industry Apologist
By… Sex Industry Apologist?
nine@jinxremoving.org (I have no idea if this email still works)

I was very excited when I saw this zine (and part two). The sex industry is something that I find fascinating (well, sex in general, really), but I don’t think I know enough about any of it to form an opinion just yet. So to see a zine taking the subject on was very exciting.

The first thing I feel I need to say is that this is a zine where I had to remember that I couldn’t judge it entirely on my expectations of it. While it’s certainly fine to mention when expectations aren’t met, I think it’s still important to review a zine (and anything else) for what it is. If we all judged things and people entirely on what we think they should be, then we’d be even more miserable.

I got right into this zine expecting – I’ll be frank – a bit of humour and memoir-style ramblings about the sex industry. What is actually in this zine are pieces about what it is like to work as support for sex industry workers and the kinds of prejudices that can be found there. After brief introduction, there is an article about the sex industry. But after that, there are pieces – some shorter, some longer – about events, people, and the industry itself. While it does get a little annoyed at times with the blatant ‘believe any figure quoted without checking’ culture that seems to be around with people who are dead set against the industry, it more tries to look at what’s really going on – both for the sex workers and for the people who think they know it all.

It’s not the most aesthetically pleasing zine, but the zine maker even admits that. The large texts blocks could overwhelm the casual browser, but it’s nothing an interested reader wouldn’t move past easily enough. The content is thought-provoking in ways I could have never expected. And yet, the zine-maker’s voice doesn’t shove anything down your throat. No preaching is a definite plus to something with this subject matter.

The use of references in this zine does make it feel like it leans more towards essays, but I think that’s a good thing. I feel like there is a whole ‘sub-point’ of the zine that quietly and calmly reminds you to check your facts before

Even better, there is a reference section in the back for further reading! Love.

All up, I think you really do need to be interested in the sex industry at more of a ‘passing interest’ level to enjoy this zine. This zine isn’t out to entertain, it’s there to inform. This is quite different to a lot of other media out there, so it can take a bit of adjustment. It’s still definitely worth looking into.