Some argue that zines are dead. But I argue that zine-culture is just under appreciated. For those who do not know, a zine (pronounced like the second syllable of a magazine) is a self-published work of original material or commandeered texts and images. Zines are typically circulated in a small area and not-so mass produced via Xerox machines. It is also claimed that "zine" is short for, yup you guessed it, magazine.
Zines technically first emerged in the 18th century. Benjamin Franklin wrote a pamphlet for psychiatric patients which was also distributed among the staff and can be considered a zine. That's right, the man who is credited for founding electricity, the sixth resident of Pennsylvania, "The First American," invented zines.
During and after the Great Depression, science fiction magazines were overwhelmed with letters from fans depicting their very own science fiction tales as well as criticisms of the stories published by these magazines. Eventually, they began posting the letters including the return address and fans started writing each other. This is how science fiction fanzines and zine culture rose. The fanzines didn't just allow fans to discuss the fandom, but also release their own work and write personal zines (perzines) about themselves.
Zines re-emerged in the 1970s upon the arrival of cleaner photocopiers and home-printing which made zines more economically possible. These zines were part of the punk-subculture.
In the 90's zine production increased as the riot grrrl movement and third-wave feminism became the new mentality. These types of zines were lumped together under the title "girl zines". Girl zines followed a legacy that began with women health pamphlets and scrapbooking. Because zines are typically self-published, women were allowed to write about things that typically would not be circulated. They were able to write about their own personal issued such as body image, sexuality, sexual violence, abuse, incest, and assault. Traditional media wasn't covering g these issues, so women took it upon themselves to educate and support each other. Despite predictions that zines would fail, blogging has helped female zinesters continue to make zines.
The focus and purpose of zines are not profit, but rather a distribution of information and the hope to advance the opinions of the viewer. Zines cover a wide range of topics including but not limited to: feminism, the riot grrrl movement, politics, social theory, fan fiction, poetry, art and design, punk, and sexual content. Since zines are so far out of the category of mainstream media, oppressive censorship doesn't apply.
Since the arrival of the internet, the number of zines initially plummeted; but that doesn't mean that zines aren't out there. Zines now arrive in the form of blogs and even facebook pages. However, print zines are also still
