Bitch Comes to a Close

April 13, 2022 6:04 AM

Recent years have brought a multitude of challenges to our organization, and despite incredible effort, we have concluded that we are unable to sustainably continue creating the quality content that our readers and supporters expect. It is with very heavy hearts that we tell you that Bitch Media will cease all operations in June, 2022.
posted by Etrigan (14 comments total)

End of an era. I felt so proud when someone from Bitch interviewed me in 2011 - hope the people and energy behind Bitch go on to new wonderful endeavors.

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posted by brainwane at 6:10 AM on April 13, 2022 [8 favorites]

I'm going to miss them.
posted by aclevername at 6:53 AM on April 13, 2022 [2 favorites]

I have mixed feelings. Definitely sadness, but also I'd felt frustration for a while at the magazine feeling a little stale, a little behind. Which is understandable when the internet makes discussion move so fast anymore. I've been a subscriber forever, but a lot of times I didn't read much of each issue.

It might just be time.

I wish there had been a good way for it to exist online, like if maybe The Mary Sue, Wonkette, Feminist Giant, etc. could all be in one place.
posted by emjaybee at 7:09 AM on April 13, 2022 [7 favorites]

man. Here's three from the Mefi archives that stuck with me:

1. Thread on Walidah Imarisha's interview on the racial politics of Disney animals.
2. Excerpt from Kameron Hurley's book, The Geek Feminist Revolution which is partially becomes a thread of noteworthy women characters and performances.

3. One of the most personally remarkable things, watching this video, was that no matter how many times the horrifying scenes of assault on the screen ended with an attacker curled in the fetal position or knocked out cold in an elevator, I never believed the next one would end happily.

   Katie Presley framing sparking a thread about feminist revenge fantasies.
Bitch media certainly had an impact on how I think and frame pop culture.

posted by zenon at 7:33 AM on April 13, 2022 [7 favorites]

I'm also a longtime subscriber, and I'm sad, but not surprised.
posted by box at 8:05 AM on April 13, 2022 [1 favorite]

(And maybe this should be an Ask question, but if I love Bitch Magazine, what should I subscribe to instead?)
posted by box at 8:48 AM on April 13, 2022 [1 favorite]

Bust, for as long as that lasts. I'm surprised that's still around, actually.
posted by jenfullmoon at 9:18 AM on April 13, 2022 [3 favorites]

I love Bust, but I find they're less critical of media than Bitch.
posted by pxe2000 at 9:20 AM on April 13, 2022 [1 favorite]

Yeah, Bust is still going strong, there's also Ms. magazine. Some more obscure feminist titles are Lilith, which is Jewish, and Lux, which is Socialist. Womankind, from Australia, is lovely but not very interested in pop culture.
posted by drinkyclown at 10:57 AM on April 13, 2022 [2 favorites]

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posted by ivan ivanych samovar at 12:35 PM on April 13, 2022

Nice piece on this from Jude Doyle.
posted by carrienation at 1:43 PM on April 13, 2022 [6 favorites]

.

I so wish it had been around when I was 15.
posted by brujita at 2:27 PM on April 13, 2022

I let my subscription lapse several years ago. Maybe I aged out of the demographic, finding fewer articles that felt quite as incisive and thought provoking to me just because they were no longer quite as relevant to my life. The pressure to produce online content rapidly and regularly seemed to add some editorial challenges, as well. But Bitch was still a on-goingly groundbreaking media institution. Their advertising policy led to many financial challenges, but was a hugely important component of their editorial independence that enabled them to continue to publish feminist content that critiqued capitalism or structural racism or ableism, not just surface aspects of pop culture. (And nothing against Bust, but it was never as radical as Bitch.)
posted by eviemath at 4:12 PM on April 13, 2022 [3 favorites]

The death of this magazine, along with the feminist blogosphere... Twitter is really not a replacement. Nor are newsletters.

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posted by pelvicsorcery at 12:27 AM on April 14, 2022