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Welcome back, Spare Rib. You're needed Welcome back, Spare Rib. You're needed
(5 months later)
Out with the old, in with the new. Or the not so new. Last week, More! magazine, that cheeky aunt with her sex tips, boy obsession and embarrassing anecdotes, folded, after 25 years. And in its place? Well, it emerged later in the week that groundbreaking feminist magazine Spare Rib will return.Out with the old, in with the new. Or the not so new. Last week, More! magazine, that cheeky aunt with her sex tips, boy obsession and embarrassing anecdotes, folded, after 25 years. And in its place? Well, it emerged later in the week that groundbreaking feminist magazine Spare Rib will return.
Journalist Charlotte Raven has announced plans to breathe life back into the brand, emailing friends and potential backers to obtain the £20,000 needed to get the biannual print edition going. The website, though just a holding page at the moment, has all the funds to get going immediately.Journalist Charlotte Raven has announced plans to breathe life back into the brand, emailing friends and potential backers to obtain the £20,000 needed to get the biannual print edition going. The website, though just a holding page at the moment, has all the funds to get going immediately.
Despite the premise seeming niche – you'll rarely see Spare Rib without the "radical feminism" caveat – Raven also promises that the print incarnation will "sit alongside Cosmo on the newsagent's shelf".Despite the premise seeming niche – you'll rarely see Spare Rib without the "radical feminism" caveat – Raven also promises that the print incarnation will "sit alongside Cosmo on the newsagent's shelf".
But what will its place be on the internet? Though Spare Rib really couldn't come at a better time, it's rough terrain out there. Whether it's through writer Caitlin Moran, Femen, Slutwalks, Grimes's Tumblr account, India's anti-rape protests or Sheryl Sandberg, feminism is having a resurgence, all right. But when it lives on the internet, where lazy clicks equal approval, retweets supersede debate, feminism is twisting and turning in on itself.But what will its place be on the internet? Though Spare Rib really couldn't come at a better time, it's rough terrain out there. Whether it's through writer Caitlin Moran, Femen, Slutwalks, Grimes's Tumblr account, India's anti-rape protests or Sheryl Sandberg, feminism is having a resurgence, all right. But when it lives on the internet, where lazy clicks equal approval, retweets supersede debate, feminism is twisting and turning in on itself.
I know it's self-perpetuating to point out that a fault of feminism is that it's constantly criticised by women who don't accept other definitions of feminism. But how are we radical or "modern day", as Beyoncé so controversially put it, feminists, all of us, meant to topple inequality if we cannot treat each other equally?I know it's self-perpetuating to point out that a fault of feminism is that it's constantly criticised by women who don't accept other definitions of feminism. But how are we radical or "modern day", as Beyoncé so controversially put it, feminists, all of us, meant to topple inequality if we cannot treat each other equally?
Though the internet has been fertile ground for a new wave of feminism to take root, for every website such as Everyday Feminism – which simply holds a magnifying mirror to the regular, dull throb of misogyny so it can be identified and extracted like a thick whitehead – there's a website such as Vagenda. Here, paying women for their writing is brushed aside in favour of tearing apart the work of women who are employed by women's magazines.Though the internet has been fertile ground for a new wave of feminism to take root, for every website such as Everyday Feminism – which simply holds a magnifying mirror to the regular, dull throb of misogyny so it can be identified and extracted like a thick whitehead – there's a website such as Vagenda. Here, paying women for their writing is brushed aside in favour of tearing apart the work of women who are employed by women's magazines.
Take their knee-jerk gloating over More!'s closure, where around 30 mostly female staff were made jobless. But maybe my feeling that women should be paid for the work they can get is just as strong as the girls who felt More! wasn't instilling them with body confidence.Take their knee-jerk gloating over More!'s closure, where around 30 mostly female staff were made jobless. But maybe my feeling that women should be paid for the work they can get is just as strong as the girls who felt More! wasn't instilling them with body confidence.
The unfortunate truth is that while the internet has united minorities, it has not brought down the Tower of Babel. The concept of a free platform to speak to the world should be a force for good. And in so many cases it is, but when it comes to feminism, the internet has democratised but fractured opinion.The unfortunate truth is that while the internet has united minorities, it has not brought down the Tower of Babel. The concept of a free platform to speak to the world should be a force for good. And in so many cases it is, but when it comes to feminism, the internet has democratised but fractured opinion.
Maybe this is where Spare Rib can have some authority. The brand's legacy is one of a time when women achieved change through genuine activism, not idle clicktivism.Maybe this is where Spare Rib can have some authority. The brand's legacy is one of a time when women achieved change through genuine activism, not idle clicktivism.
With the knowledge and experience of those who achieved some liberation in the 70s but with the modern savviness to use a Kickstarter-style format to launch, it seems to have the balance right.With the knowledge and experience of those who achieved some liberation in the 70s but with the modern savviness to use a Kickstarter-style format to launch, it seems to have the balance right.
I hope Spare Rib doesn't fall victim to the internet's dissections and preference for immediate reaction instead of thought-out reasoning, because as much as it has to look out for itself in this unregulated territory, it could be a welcome guiding light.I hope Spare Rib doesn't fall victim to the internet's dissections and preference for immediate reaction instead of thought-out reasoning, because as much as it has to look out for itself in this unregulated territory, it could be a welcome guiding light.
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