BITCHfest : ten years of cultural criticism from the pages of Bitch magazine

This work talks about a 10-year retrospective from the Grande Dame of pop cult feminism. It presents the best of the best from the world's favourite alternative 'zine. In the wake of "Sassy" and as an alternative to the staid reportage of "Ms., Bitch" was launched in the mid-nineties as a Xerox-and-staple 'zine covering the landscape of popular culture from a feminist perspective. Both unabashed in its love for the guilty pleasures of consumer culture and deeply thoughtful about the way the pop landscape reflects and impacts women's lives, "Bitch" grew to be a popular, full-scale magazine with a readership that stretched worldwide. Today, it stands as the touchstone of hip, young feminist thought, regarding with wit and irreverence the way pop culture informs feminism - and vice versa - and encouraging readers to think critically about the messages lurking behind television shows, movies, music, books and blogs. "Bitchfest" offers an assortment of the most provocative essays, reporting, rants and raves from the magazine's first 10 years - along with new pieces specially written for the collection. Smart, nuanced, cranky, outrageous and clear-eyed, the anthology covers everything from an analysis of pre-scandal Martha Stewart to a more recent critical look at the "gayby boom"; from a time line of black women on sitcoms to an analysis of fat suits as the new blackface; from an attempt to fashion a feminist vulgarity to a reclamation of female virginity. It's a recent history of feminist pop culture and an arrow towards feminism's future.