Interview

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In this e-mail interview Danish-Norwegian feminist activist and writer Anne Bitsch (30), generously shares some reflections on her feminist past and present.

Jenny Gunnarsson Payne: How, when and why did you become a feminist?

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Please introduce yourself!
Hi! My name’s Monica, I´m a veterinary student at Sao Paulo State University (Brasil) but I´m from Asuncion, paraguayan city in South America. I make part of the collective Riot Grrrls chapter Paraguay, and organized with the collective 3 Ladyfests from Paraguay.

Zines

What is your zine “Synthemesco y las Ptitsas Zine” about? What topics do you discuss most often? What made you decide to start this project? How did you come up with the idea and the name?

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Can you introduce yourself?
Hello, we are Lash Back! Lash Back is a feminist collective and magazine based in Dublin Ireland. The group was initially set up in late 2007 by 3 women in Dublin. The group has slowly evolved and now encompasses approx 25 casual collective members, 6 organising members and an e-mail group of over 80 members.

Can you tell us about the Lash Back collective?

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Jenny Gunnarsson Payne: Can you begin by telling me something about yourself?

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Like any non mainstream media, cunterview.net has emerged from the feeling that something is missing. In this case [the] missing link was the voice of the arty 3rd wavers, or to be more specific: Women- made online space that focuses on art, creativity, skill exchange and offers women’s and/or feminist view on [the] world in Croatian society.
- Boosting creativity and collaboration: cunterview.net

With its tongue in cheek name, cunterview.net aims to ‘participate with a dynamic and diverse voice in the media map of Croatia’. Founded and edited by Gabrijela Ivanov of the Expanse of Gender and Media Culture ‘Common Zone’ civil society organization, this women-led e-zine offers an entertaining and informative webportal, documenting women artists and Central and Eastern European feminist culture.

Red talks to Gabrijela about grassroots media, alternative economies, and the need for feminists to embrace technological competency.

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Please introduce yourself....

J: I’m Judith and I am 21 years old. At the moment I live in Vienna, Austria. I’m doing feminist things for some years. The last big thing I organised was the queer-feminist days in Vienna. I think what is important to me at the moment is that my activism is feminist, but it is not this ‘we are women and we are proud to be women and we are all the same’ and stuff like that. At the moment some anti-racist stuff is important for me and feminism with queer politics also.

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Can you introduce yourself?
I’m an ordinary, boring, 50-something, white, middle-class transsexual woman; based in London and trying to build a life that feels more like mine and less like one I was camping out in until something better came along.

As well as my own blog, I contribute to two others - The F-Word (http://www.thefword.org.uk/blog/by/helen_g/) and Questioning Transphobia ( http://questioningtransphobia.wordpress.com/ ). I’m also co-curator of the Genderfork feed at Twitter (http://twitter.com/genderfork ) and the point of contact for the London hub of the National LGBT Cancer Network ( http://www.cancer-network.org/ )

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Jenny Gunnarsson Payne: For how long have ‘Princess Hijab’ been around? How and why did the project start?

Princess Hijab: I created a personality in 2006. She is the synthesis of my own maturation, work, and introspection. I started doing collage, drawing, video, and fashion design, all of which were gradually absorbed by Princess, a veiled young girl, pure by day and wicked by night.

JGP: What are the main aims of your project? What are you hoping to achieve?

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This interview features on the Ladyfest Romania blog and appears in the book Are you talking to me? Discussion on Knowledge Production, Gender Politics and Feminist Strategies, eds H.arta/Katharina Morawek.

How to intervene? Practices of her-stories

“A grrrl from Timisoara—who is involved in the local “underground” scene there—decided to start a Romanian Ladyfest after attending the one held in Amsterdam in 2003. Impressed by the premise of a feminist festival showcasing woman artists and by her whole Ladyfest experience, she felt that it would be a good idea to also try something like that, infused with the riot grrrl spirit, at home. Finally, in late 2004, she started planning the festival together with a girlfriend of hers who is the bass player of a political punk band from Timisoara and a few other grrrls they knew; in time the two of them were able to spread the word and get more help from several Romanian girls and women living in different regions and even outside of the country. Ladyfest Timisoara 2005 was a small scale event, but it was a much needed action that brought together Romanian feminists of various ages and younger ones especially, and everyone involved felt that it should be kept going. Afterwards, the organizing collective decided to stay together to plan more events and ultimately a second Ladyfest in October 2007.” Ruxandra

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Jenny: Can you introduce yourself?