There’s the Oscar-nominated hit, TransAmerica.
There’s the new book Self-Made Man, in which author Norah Vincent tries
on maleness for a year and a half. And even the often-less-than-risk-taking The
L Word featured a transgender character this season. Trans issues have hit
the big time. However, despite mainstream media’s slowly increasing interest in
-- and occasional thoughtful exploration of -- trans issues, many big-time
portrayals don’t get past stereotypes and jokes. (Take, for example, TBS’s
reality TV show, He’s a Lady, in which super-macho guys dress in heels
for a day to get the true “female experience.”)
Fortunately, another rapidly growing sector of the
media is stepping up to broaden and complicate the picture: print zines. A huge
range of publications are devoted to trans issues, each of which may include
editorials, poetry, art, fiction, interviews, even musical compositions.
Trans-focused zines have been steadily multiplying in recent years.
Why? As public interest in gender variance increases,
it’s important to show that it’s about people -- not simply newsworthy
phenomena -- said Red Durkin, who produces four zine series and tours with the
Tranny Roadshow, a traveling group of performers, artists, and writers.
“Zines are an almost perfect outlet for us,” Durkin
said. “Being trans is personal. There’s no instruction manuals. I think the
failing of any broad sweeping analysis is that it could never encompass all of
us. The only way for all of us to be heard is for each of us to have our own
voice, and that’s what the zine world offers.” Many zines are produced and
distributed by a single author or artist. Others are collaborative efforts, but
most zines are never shipped off to an outside publisher or distributor, so
zine writers need not worry about misrepresentation.
The complete freedom of self-identification that a
zine offers is especially important for trans populations, noted Jamez Terry, a
co-founder of the Tranny Roadshow.
“Zines are the ultimate DIY [Do-It-Yourself] media,
which means you’re totally free to define yourself and no one can challenge
your right to identify however you want within your own zine,” said Terry, who
has produced more than 50 zines, including Transcendence, a zine by and
for trans youth. “No one else is going to edit you and get your pronouns wrong.”
And while we’re on the topic, no one can assign your
zine any pronouns either. Since zinesters don’t gear their products toward a
particular section on a Barnes & Noble shelf, they don’t need to grant them
identities that fit into culturally predetermined categories. Trans zines are
instead characterized by fragmentation, mixture, parody, and ambiguity.
According to Doug Blandy, a University of Oregon professor and zine scholar,
zines are the perfect example of postmodernism, throwing all the identities and
definitions we thought we knew into question, including our definitions of
gender -- and of magazines.
DIY
Democracy
Blandy doesn’t see zines as merely a good example of
postmodernism in the midst of a rigidly structured society. He sees them as a
route to changing that society.
“I believe strongly that people, through their
artistry, can participate in the public dialogue essential to democracy,”
Blandy said. Zines allow radical ideas -- many of which would never appear in a
mainstream magazine -- to emerge onto the printed page. They then spark
discussion between zinesters and their audience, both directly and indirectly,
leading to more zines and more conversations -- a do-it-yourself chain of
democratic participation.
This means that, unlike TV and mainstream print
media, which produce a static stream of “information,” zines foster a dynamic
forum for discussion, in which readers are just as important as writers. The
barista who plucks a stray zine off the café floor can write to the creator
and debunk her column, or take up one of the zine’s rallying cries and
publicize it to a much wider audience than the zine might reach.
This also means that, in the zine world, the
connection between personal and political is constantly blurred. Elke Zobl,
creator of the Grrrl Zine Network, which publicizes and promotes connections
between feminist, queer, and trans zinesters, says that simply putting one’s uncensored
voice into the world makes a political statement. For trans people, speaking
and writing as themselves may be a radical act.
“It’s a truly democratic form of media,” Zobl said. “Anyone
who reads a zine can create one. Insofar as [people’s] thoughts and experiences
are made public, zines are not only an important personal outlet and means of
empowerment but also have a significant social and political function.”
Take the experience of Jackie
O., a performance artist, sex worker, and “SMBD aficionado” whose zine, Crazy
Pink Revolver (CPR), was first churned out on a manual typewriter
and photocopied “by any means necessary.” (One issue was scanned and copied
illegally at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.) The zine spans a broad
range of topics -- some of Jackie’s favorite pieces include “The Adventures of
Tampon Boy,” “The Few, the Proud, the Queer Tranny Vampires,” and “Wigs 101.”
Jackie began by handing out CPR “brick by brick and queer by queer,”
then distributed some copies to independent bookstores across the country. Now
in her 11th year of producing CPR, Jackie says she sees it as a mode of
inserting herself into a society that has marginalized her.
“I always felt that I could carry my zines with me
wherever I go as an extension of my selves.” she said. “Oh, and I get around!”
Like Thomas Paine did back in the day, today’s
zinesters often distribute or sell their zines by hand, lending a face to their
ideas -- direct representation in its purest form. Durkin, Terry, and other
Tranny Roadshow participants tote their zines across the country, displaying
them wherever they perform. Often, the zines become part of the performance
through readings, onstage references, and even semi-subliminal messages (Terry
sports a tattoo that reads, “Zinester”).
Some zinesters have combined forces with another
direct-democracy institution: libraries. Terry and the Tranny Roadshow’s other
co-founder, Kelly Shortandqueer, founded the Denver Zine Library, which boasts
over 70 specifically trans-focused zines, not to mention all the queer-related
zines which include trans perspectives.
Similarly, by collecting queer and trans zines, the
Milwaukee-based Queer Zine Archive Project (QZAP) aims to help marginalized
folks get noticed, so that their views become part of more widespread
conversations. “This will then (hopefully) engender them (pun intended) to take
action, and also to make zines so that others can do the same,” said Milo
Miller, co-founder of QZAP. “In some ways, it’s viral action and
self-publication.”
At the same time, library projects remind us that
zine-style democracy is just as much about reaction and self-reflection.
The action of making zines only goes as far as people are willing to put in the
time to read them, process them, and make their realities part of their lives.
When you take a zine out of the Denver Zine Library, you may be carrying away
one of just a few copies of the publication. Your time with that zine --
falling in love with its artwork, having imaginary conversations with its
author, reenacting childhood memories, falling asleep -- counts as a democratic
movement in its own right: reclaiming your turf as a responsive reader.
Building
Community, One Scrap at a Time
Being a responsive reader doesn’t mean simply nodding
emphatically at a well-argued editorial. In the zine world, it often means
making friends. Elke Zobl, founder of the Grrrl Zine Network, a resource site
which provides an expansive listing of print zines, says that many trans zines
have the same underlying message for their readers: “You are not alone!”
“For many, especially those living in small towns in
the middle of nowhere, zines are a great way of connecting with like-minded
folks around the world, without ever meeting them in person,” Zobl said. “This
is important for queer and transgender youth who often feel like outsiders and
have a difficult time in school and at home.”
Though Elke notes that lots zines may fall under our
radar because they don’t have a website, aren’t explicitly called “zines,” or
are written in languages we don’t speak (she mentioned zinesters in the United
Arab Emirates, Peru, and Israel with whom she’s corresponded), they’re still
circulating in local networks and bringing people together.
In certain situations, zines are practically the only
way of overcoming isolating circumstances and uniting trans people. Just ask
Amanda Armstrong, creator of Transsexuals in Prison. Armstrong thought
up the idea while working with Books Through Bars, a Philadelphia organization
that sends books to incarcerated people. She noticed that, although trans folks
are overrepresented in the prison system, the organization wasn’t getting any
requests for books about trans issues. So the zine began as an attempt to
promote the exchange of trans books, as well as the work of people on the
inside. Armstrong forged connections with several organizations that work with
incarcerated trans people and together they spread the word. Before long,
Armstrong was receiving dozens of submissions. The zine came out in the summer
of 2004, chockfull of poetry, art, critiques, info about the legal system and how
to obtain medical treatment, and lists of resources.
“One of the most common things that incarcerated
people who have read the zine say to me is that it helped them feel like they
weren’t alone,” Armstrong said. “Many prisons in the United States don’t allow
inmates to send mail to other prisons, meaning that it’s very hard for
incarcerated trans people to be in touch with other people in their situation.
Even if the zine wasn’t a way for people to talk directly with each other, at
least it allowed people to share a little bit about themselves with people in a
similar situation, and to read about other people in their situation.”
Transsexuals in Prison also includes advice
for free-world activists looking to support incarcerated people. This brings up
an important issue: “trans communities” and “zine communities” usually are not
exclusive entities whose covers are shut to people that don’t consider
themselves transgender or zinesters.
In an effort to include folks besides seasoned trans
zinesters, Red Durkin plans to develop a trans-educational zine. It’s an
attempt to begin filling the void left by mainstream media in terms of
information about gender variance. This won’t constitute a single-authority
textbook, but rather a collection of different trans experiences.
“I’m not an expert on how to deal with trans people,”
Durkin said. “There’s an assumption that you have all the answers because you
are trans, and that’s just not the case. I want to do something that really
expresses the diversity amongst trans people, because the truth is, not all of
us even read zines.”
Why
Paper’s the Way
The need for zines in the trans community seems
undeniable. But why is Jackie O. holed up in the Children’s Hospital,
frantically copying scraps she banged out on a manual typewriter? Why are Terry
and Durkin cutting and pasting while traveling with the Roadshow, using pencils
to scribble out poems? And how could the Denver Zine Library staff even think
about collecting all those little booklets, giving up their free time to worry
over checkout dates and bent covers? Why don’t they all just get websites and
change the date next to the “update” bar every couple of months?
For Amanda Armstrong, the answer was obvious.
Incarcerated folks don’t have web access, so the majority of her readership
would be left without access to the information she hoped to provide. Other
zinesters’ decisions to stick to print are less clear. But Armstrong’s
situation points to a major reason to bypass the web: lots of people still don’t
have Internet access, and many young women and trans youth across the world
fall into this category.
Another access block comes to mind as far as trans
zines go: For many cool sites, unless you’ve got the URL on hand, you’ll never
discover them. Instead, you might find a myriad of cheap tranny porn. (Trust
me: I spent a lot of time Googling while researching this article.) Strictly
Internet-based zines exclude the majority of people -- the ones that don’t have
trans-zine-savvy friends. Print zines -- found in stores, at special events, on
the street, etc. -- have the potential for a more diverse readership. They also
avoid the stream of anonymous abuse that barrages some trans e-zine message
boards, forums, and emails.
Yet for a lot of trans zinesters, more personal
motivations were key to their choice of print. The hands-on element amplifies
the zine’s potential for unhindered individual expression -- the reason that
many chose the zine form in the first place. With a print zine, not only can
you ensure that your pronouns are right and your story isn’t distorted, you can
handsew the pages, color the binding yourself, glue on your own photos. One
zine I came across even included a mini candy bar. A hard copy affords its
maker total control.
“When you have a print zine, no matter what the
subject, the whole point is that it’s your copy,” Durkin said. “You are
responsible for taking care of it, you can lend it out to people, you can
crumple it up and burn it if you want; it’s yours.”
What’s more, you can touch it, as you can a person --
and personhood is what many of these zines are working to express, say Durkin
and Jackie O., who both spoke of the particular importance of print media in
trans communities. The zine becomes an affirmation of its creator’s
self-identified physical reality.
“[The zine] is like a living extension of a person,”
Durkin said. “You can have a connection with it.” Connections between people
are what forge radical democracies, build communities, bring solace and
strength. Zines are about emotions as well as politics, reaching
middle-of-Nebraska trans youth as well as offering an alternative perspective
to He’s a Lady. All the trans zines in the world may never reach the
same number of people as a TV broadcast is capable of doing in one minute. But
as they are passing from hand to hand and their words go zipping from mouth to
mouth and brain to brain, they’re not just reaching for people -- they’re
touching them.
Maya Schenwar is a
Chicago-based freelance writer and an editor for Publications International.
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