Things My Parents Never Taught Me
Crash Reynolds
https://linktr.ee/indeliblecrash
https://www.etsy.com/ca/shop/UtopiaByCrash

Things My Parents Never Taught Me is a one-page folded full-colour mini-zine about overlooked childhood lessons.

I knew from the moment I read the title of this mini that I would enjoy this zine.

Opening up this zine, you find a small collection of snippets covering the practical – like how to properly clean a bathroom – to more emotionally related skills. Crash had me from the first missed lesson, and I spent time wondering just how much YouTube and other educational websites have taught me. I nodded along with most of Crash’s lists, identifying with so many and inspired to make a list of my own.

This zine makes me feel sad in the feelings and sentiments that it covers. But, like with many zines, I appreciate the potential it has to help people feel less alone.

Body Hair: A Love/Hate Story
Olga
https://www.olgawritesthings.com/
https://www.instagram.com/olgawritesthings/

Body Hair: A Love/Hate Story is a black and white A5 text zine collection of life moments that shaped Olga’s journey with body hair.

In this zine, Olga sweeps us into her journey with a memory from grade 8 when a comment from a mean classmate about her moustache and her mother’s reaction to the event set up her attitude toward body hair for a long time to come.

From there, each page features its own snippet – its own life moment. Olga explores her background, her reactions to her body hair, and others’ reactions. Olga questions assumptions and finds self-worth beyond beauty by challenging herself to grow her body hair. A challenge that makes me feel a lot of respect for Olga because I don’t have the courage to do the same.

As a hairy woman in a long line of hairy women, I identify with this zine so much. From her mother’s reaction to body hair to curing her hair heredity… I also just took it for granted that you did whatever necessary to get rid of body hair when it started appearing – just like Olga did.

Olga wraps up on an important note: it’s not about making anyone feel bad about what they do with their body; it’s about choice and how so many people feel like they didn’t and don’t have one when it comes to body hair.

I think this is a great zine, and I’d love to see more like it. Olga doesn’t hold back nor does she make it into a happily ever after. It’s damned hard to face the idea of judgement from others let alone actual judgement.

Good on Olga.