‘AND we both like Minstrels’, I heard myself add. Immediately I knew it was the most tenuous link of them all. Springing to mind was the episode of Friends where Phoebe and her biological mother believe that both of them liking pizza is further concrete proof that they are indeed related. Bloody. Alice’s face was…
Mothering
Mothering after James Hearst It is Mother’s Day and I will mother. Growing from me through the ribbon of nutrient rich blood, the transient organ I grew for you. Irises like depression glass under fully formed lids, eye daughter fearless child, climbing, babbling growing good. For necessity is the mother of invention, and juniper…
98 Wounds Photo Series Part 4
For the last week of Femmuary we have selected some excellent international female artists who we have been lucky to see and photograph in London. 22 Hinds A young Spanish band who I first saw when they toured here as Deers in 2014, just before they changed their name. Their recent album has received a…
Go Home and Do Your Washing 1890
GO HOME AND DO YOUR WASHING 1890 We lay on the bed laughing, remembering how we had held our corner: warriors, our sandwich boards breastplates, the taunts mere gnats. You deepened your voice, mimicked the man who had shouted from the chemist’s door. As if he knew anything about washing and bluing. He with a…
Vaginally Valley
By Mineral Lick Mineral Lick wishes she lived in a world away from Earth. That she was an alien, metallic and doe eyed. But she isn’t. So instead, Mineral Lick likes to create alternative worlds. Mainly in 3DS MAX, sometimes in Photoshop, sometimes in C4D, sometimes in other ways. Her subjects are often in solitude…
Accountable
Over the years I have spent a good portion of my time talking and writing about feminism, specifically male feminism. It is something that I have felt passionately about since my early teens; though it wasn’t until my mid twenties that I felt I could start writing about it. And even then, it was naive…
Doll Things and Stars of Our Own Stories
Doll Things Paper dolls cut from old catalogues holding hands, their little dresses uniforms on rounded, eyeless heads; blue-eyed baby dolls with yellow curls, tiny nail beds etched on rubber fingers clutching hard plastic milk bottles to rounded ruby lips forever open, like guppies trolling their waters feeding hungers never satisfied; a Chatty…
98 Wounds Photo Series Part 3
15. Mystified Mystified are Jess, Alizon and Ben. I knew I was going to love Mystified before I even saw them- a remark from an amazed audience member who couldn’t believe that, “a woman can play such great riffs,” meant I was sold. (For both the riffs, and blowing this poor lads mind). Jess is…
Iridescent Love
Iridescence and splendid blessings I’m Unimpressed by your love Touch me, taste me, no embrace can replace me But I’ve been Repressed by your love, I’ve been Repressed by your love Repressed by your love It seemed that I wanted to stay but the pace of your brace stole the breath and the beat from…
How to be (and why to call yourself) a Feminist?
It seems that this writing malarkey has become an annual event for me, so far be it for me to deny people all over the Internet the joy of becoming so incensed by the ideas in my feminist ramblings, that they are prompted to brand us, “the rotten toe that must be severed to save…
Svea
There’s a photo of my cousin next to her namesake, Moder Svea, a bronze statue in Berga Memorial Park in Linköping, Sweden. It bears the inscription On Guard for the Motherland. Our Svea is blond and already a little buxom for a twelve year old. Unbeknownst to her she will soon be motherless and on…
Period in Period
Period in Period — line drawings dedicated to the female experience. — line drawings dedicated to the no-shame tampon purchasers. — line drawings dedicated to the day 1 tampon/pad wears. — line drawings dedicated to the bleeders in history. By Laura Delarato Laura is a writer, photographer, illustrator, and fake Instagram model living…
A Tale of Round Rotis
Ever Since I was growing up I was told just how important it was to cook round rotis. Perfectly shaped soft, round rotis. I hated them for their supposed ‘perfectness’, in a world full of people far from perfect who would judge a woman’s worth by her ability to make ’round rotis‘. I…
SHE CLAIM
By Sophie le Roux Sophie le Roux is 23 year old photographer and experimental film maker now residing in Berlin. She travels to quiet corners of Europe to find the unfamiliar in the mundane and the charisma in decay.
98 Wounds Photo Series Part 2
08 Hero Fisher I first saw Hero Fisher and her band at ‘Camden Rocks’ in 2014. It was something of an accident as I had chosen to spend some time in Dingwalls because it had air-conditioning on a hot day. I was quite impressed, but in 2015 she did a series of stripped back gigs to support…
The Damage Done
‘The Damage Done’ is about the holes emotional damage can leave, or any damage really, it’s there, a gaping wound, but we survive and get stronger and face the world regardless. Tabitha’s Facebook http://tabithaknight.co.uk/
After Love
So, cystitis again, I’m swearing fiercely in the bathroom, bent double, barely moving and nothing. No. Not a drop. It’s dark. I’m desperately drinking cranberry (which I hate) and hating him for holding me so tightly, so tenderly while infection took hold. It burns! I run a bath and use a board as a desk…
Still Laughing
I’m Bryony Bisset, I’m a comedian. This isn’t a piece about sexual assault; it’s about the best gig I’ve done so far. The thing I’ve learnt about rape recently is that it doesn’t define you. This piece is a little bit about sexual assault. I won’t go into details because this isn’t That’s Life, you…
Mr. Talbot
The girl passes beneath the light, and Mr. Talbot becomes excited. Three nights in a row now, without failure, she has come at 9:00 on the dot. Three sleepless nights spent staring and wondering over her tiny frame. What is she doing out at this hour, on this patch of sidewalk? There is only a…
Daughterly Advice/Why God is a Father
Daughterly Advice Mother told you women can build homes out of men. You said houses maybe, not homes. You told her father was a bad example of something you could build from. You said homes are made from materials born to last. You told her women make the best homes. You told her men are…
The Freeze Response: How a Warrior Handles the Trauma of Sexual Assault
When I speak at colleges about my own story of sexual abuse, I never forget how difficult it was for me to even speak the words, “I was sexually abused.” It took me an even longer time to believe it, or to understand it could happen to me. And what took so much longer than I ever…
Pandora
And then she opened her mouth – small, faltering at first, then wider, surer, Names dropped like pebbles at her feet. Questions fell back between her teeth, Desire, Laughter, floated out, Conversation fluttered, darted. Wit came rolling from the back of her throat, Knowledge filled her cheeks – cool and fleshy like ripe melon, then…
The Land
The Land by Edurne Iriondo My name is Edurne Iriondo, born in Madrid. I am a Brighton based Photographer and visual artist working across analogue and digital disciplines. My work encompasses an exploration of mysticism through the interaction between subject and light. My work is split into two areas that being a visual diary that…
98 Wounds Photo Series
1. Long Teeth Long Teeth are feminists Jade, Sam and Al, and are releasing a single on 18th of Femmeuary at The Shacklewell Arms – come along! (fellow Femmeuary band ‘Teenage Caveman’ are also on the bill). Their single, ‘Famous Girls’, was inspired by male talk at work about leaked celebrity sex tapes, and the…
YOU PROMISED/STERILE/MY DAUGHTER
You Promised ‘I’ll sing for you,’ you promise, but never do. Instead I get excuses and small talk, coy and cute in my ear. ‘Sing for me,’ I say. ‘You said you would.’ You blink and I wonder how your eyelashes manage to get so dark, your lips so dry, ones that peck me goodbye…
Dear Nanny, on the Eve of Your Passing
When you haunt me, haunt me gently. Remember me, with perfect hindsight and paranormal clarity. I’ll do my best to do the same for you when we see each other in the mirror every morning. That’s a promise I’ll keep, unlike thank you notes, Christmas cards, and calls on your birthdays. I want to say…
The Shared Vagina Experience
The article assures me that the obstetrician mentioned is the same one that “helped GP with her pregnancies” — GP in this case Gwyneth Paltrow, she who curates a world of untouchable wealth photographed with such clean and satisfying lines that one could be forgiven for the fleeting thought that $1,200 is a fair price…
Gather Me Up
By Tabitha Knight ‘Gather Me Up,’ to me, is about love. How even a broken, hideous creature can be gentle and caring and love and be loved in return. ‘Gather Me Up’ will be shown at Brush in Brighton as part of the Love Exhibition from the 6th of February. Tabitha’s Facebook http://www.tabithaknight.co.uk
Divine Distortion
By Laura Brown Laura Suzy Brown is a visual artist/image maker working in Brighton and London. Instagram laurasuzybrown@gmail.com/07456999982
Kissimmee
‘Do you know I’ve never jumped into a pool voluntarily?’ says the girlfriend. ‘I’ve always been pushed.’ The girlfriend is lying with her feet in her boyfriends lap. Outside, it is the middle of winter; snow slaps the window. Inside, the room is sticky with false heat. The girlfriend’s legs are long. She is sitting…
BLOOD SISTERS
By Georgia Flowers @georgia_foxglove foxgloveillustration.tumblr.com facebook.com/foxgloveillustration
Triptych of Sisterhood
By Danielle-Louise Watt Danielle-Louise Watt is an artist living and working in Peckham, London. Since graduating Kingston University in 2012, Danielle has continued to distinguish herself as an artist. Many aspects of her work and interests are driven by a delight in the female form. Her artwork is a reflection of this. From her sketchbook…
FLAWS AND FEMINISM
There are many problems surrounding feminism, but not flaws in the idea itself. To write on the subject of feminism, not even especially from a male point of view such as my own, is always a terribly difficult endeavor because of the stigma attached to speaking openly. There is an invisible list of opinions not…
98 WOUNDS PHOTO SERIES: PART 4
22. Arrows of Love Nuha and Lyndsey have been important members of Arrows of Love since 2011. Five piece Arrows of Love have an exciting, and somewhat destructive set. This photo was taken at Truck festival. Lyndsey has recently moved to Berlin (and left the band), but the band are playing a number of shows…
ACROSS GENERATIONS
These are a few of my favourite shots of some of the ladies in my family. To me, these images epitomise feminism in its most simple form, stripped of the cultural and political, a simple celebration of beauty, freedom, passion, strength and femininity in whatever form it takes. By Tegan Faber Former journalistic dabbler, current…
ALTON CINEMA
The cinema had one hundred seats—empty, all, when we slid in and roved plum chair-backs for humps of head and soaked in the blood-black sludge of that womb, that smaller-than-a-cinema. There was a film. You watched it. I saw images, sometimes, and felt how it might feel to feel you rest your arm by mine,…
STRAIGHT WHITE MALE
Straight white men – you said – avoid me. I blinked, not to make a point but because my contacts were pinging their dryness. I said they don’t, you just don’t (and here I drew quote marks by my ears) “put yourself out there” – you’re shy Your mouth showed mistrust. I thought of Penzance,…
DARK DAYS AND CRAZY TIMES
“Dark Days and Crazy Times” – A poem to be spoken aloud Inspired by Kate Tempest’s gig at Concorde 2, Brighton, 10/02/15. Kate Tempest inspires me She makes me think, she makes me care The way she speaks and how it fills the air Her passion, her drive, her sense of self Belief is…
UNBALANCED CUTS
This country stands on the shoulders of women Where gendered job roles, Still exist, still control Give way to pay gaps and discrimination Minimum wage stagnates As the cost of living inflates While women still make up most low paid positions This country stands on the shoulders of women As privately educated male politicians…
THE MORNING AFTER
Washing and roaring and thrashing, pushing in and dragging out, scores the room. Laura lies in half consciousness, letting it wash over her, as the image of her Aunt Gwyn miming at her to brush the back of her teeth fades and warps, leaving just the feeling of furred teeth and a heavy, warm cocoon…
MISSREPRESENTED
By Hanna Stepanik and Donna Galas Hanna enjoys films, the outdoors, and food. She is currently completing an MA in “Media Practice for Development and Social Change” at the University of Sussex. Donna is a postgraduate at the University of Sussex, reading for an MA in Media Practice for Development and Social Change. She is…
KEEP YOUR PANTIES ON
The purpose of the series is simply to create a “pretty” one – finding normal (some fluffy, some stubbly, some shaven, some waxed) girls and finding a comforting honesty in their normality. There’s no right or wrong, only an appealing diversity in different (total) choice in one’s “downstairs” appearance. The series was party inspired by…
98 WOUNDS PHOTO SERIES: PART 3
I thought, since we haven’t so far, that I should explain what 98 Wounds is! 98 Wounds is a London based fanzine that has been going for over two years now, composed of live music shots and interviews done by photographers who LOVE live music. You can see the latest issue here:http://issuu.com/98wounds/docs/98woundseightx7/1 1. Our Girl…
The Death Beckoner
The backstage of the school theatre, Squinting through a Bacardi Breezer, Under the bed in the dorms, My kilt itches against the wall, a pre pubescent stab into the dark… Then the underwhelming series of experiments start. And I’ve fucking seen it all: The sharp nail scratcher, The too hard and faster, The no warm…
LET HER CRY
She told me once that she wanted to be the girl from that lame Hootie and the Blowfish song, Let Her Cry. It’s about some fucked up flake of a girl who essentially ruins the guy’s life. What a shit band. Never seen the lead singer without a peak cap on. Peak caps don’t go…
Xoxhopili
By Natalie Edge Cowley Natalie Edge Cowley, Brighton based artist from Liverpool. My work of often an interpretation of dreams and visions I have on a daily basis. My work varies in subject an medium depending on who I am as a person or what phase I’m going through at the time. Geometry, maths and…
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