Project summary
Our project explores Feminist Magazines in the UK from 1968 to the present day and the influence they had on readers’ lives. These magazines shaped the key campaigns of the Women’s Liberation Movement. Campaigns such as the fight for equal pay, for reproductive rights, affordable childcare and an end to violence against women and girls.
By tracing the legacy of feminist periodicals in the digital age, the project also examines the impact of new media technologies on feminist debate and considers the significance of the ‘print revival’ in contemporary feminist zine making.
Full project title
Liberating Histories: Women’s Movement Magazines, Media Activism & Periodical Pedagogies
Team
- Dr Victoria Bazin – Principal Investigator
- Dr Mel Waters – Co-Investigator
- Dr Eleanor Careless – Research Fellow
Project highlights
Podcast Series
Liberating Histories Podcast Series explores the last 50 years of feminism through the campaigns, communities & controversies sparked by some of its most cherished magazine titles.
Feminist Periodicals Guide
The pages of our Feminist Periodicals Guide provide detailed information on a range of the feminist magazine titles. It covers titles such as Red Rag, Scarlet Women, Shocking Pink and Spare Rib among others. Information provided includes dates, prices and circulation figures as well as notes on the magazine’s aesthetics, historical contexts, editors and links to further reading resources.
Reader Testimonies
Our Readers’ Testimonies are fundamental to our project. They record the experiences of real readers of feminist magazines.
The Handmaid’s Tale
We have produced Resources on The Handmaid’s Tale for A Level English Literature Students. Reading The Handmaid’s Tale alongside women’s movement magazines of the 1980s gives students the opportunity to engage with the feminist debates which directly informed Margaret Atwood’s novel.
‘Activist Legacies’ Roundtable
Our first ‘Activist Legacies’ Roundtable event discussed how feminist periodicals have shaped public sphere debate and how political ideas and feelings gain traction through the media. Speakers included Marsha Rowe (Spare Rib), Sally Orsen-Jones (Shocking Pink), Shaila Shah (Outwrite) and Kemi Alemoru (gal-dem).
This video shows a selection of feminist magazines from the UK (1960s to the present day) on display at our first Activist Legacies Roundtable event. The background music is Typical Girls by The Slits.
Image gallery
Partners and Sponsors
Project classification
Liberating Histories is an English, History and Social Sciences project. It belongs to the following research cluster:
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