ABSTRACT
This chapter historicizes the promotion of craft in feminist periodicals by situating feminist periodicals by situating these publications within the long history as well as within their more immediate contexts of contemporary women's culture and do-it-yourself (DIY) punk and zine culture. Focusing primarily on reader response to feminist craft discourse helps to move beyond simplistic and binary modes of conceptualizing cultural production as either political or apolitical. The periodicals associated with third-wave feminism, such as Bust, Bitch, HUES, ROCKRGRL, Venus Zine, and Shameless differed from earlier feminist periodicals like Ms. Magazine in number of ways. Bust was created in New York City by Debbie Stoller and Marcelle Karp. Initially self-published once per year as a fanzine, Venus Zine was the creation of Amy Schroeder, who began circulating Venus Zine while majoring in Women's Studies at Michigan State University. Bust and Venus Zine, as for-profit periodicals that follow a commercial business model, have also had some difficulties.
