On Friday I cataloged the first five issues of librarian Anne Hays' pretty gender and self-exploration zine. It started off as a compilation zine, focusing exclusively on gender. In number two, Anne shares a bunch of her friends' responses to questions about how they feel about bras, and the zine continues to evolve into a personal zine on multiple topics with each issue.
Cover image from Stranger Danger zine distro
I like that Anne allows her zine to change, that she reveals herself slowly, to herself as well as to her readers. This unfolding reminds me of Anne's relationship with the label "lesbian." When she was first coming out, she was hesitant to identify as a lesbian, and thought of herself as "a person who likes people."
Many of you who know me, know that I'm fascinated by the Park Slope Food Coop and love anecdotes about it. Anne is a member and reports on PSFC happenings like the run on kombucha before Hurricane Irene. So good! Other topics include Anne's wife, first family, commitment to zine making and nerding out about science fiction fanzines. As promised in the first issue, there's always content on on gender identity, androgyny, and/or passing.
The zines are aesthetically yummy, too, with screen and stamp prints, ledger paper over color pages, handwritten bits and library images.
Buy copies from Anne. If you're a zine library, she might send you the whole set for free.