Bitch Magazine

http://bitchmagazine.org/

Writer's Guidelines

We're looking for anything that can be described as "feminist response to pop culture." Our definition of pop culture is broad, encompassing cultural attitudes and myths, phenomena of the popular imagination, and social trends as well as movies, TV, magazines, books, advertising, and the like. Interviews with feminist culture-makers are welcome, as are book, film, and music reviews and nuanced analyses of particularly horrifying and/or inspiring examples of pop culture. Nonfiction essays only. We do not publish fiction or poetry. Ever. Seriously. Finished work and query letters are both welcome. If sending only a query, please include clips and/or writing samples. And hey, everyone likes a nice cover letter. We prefer e-mail submissions. We do not accept pitches over the phone.

More details:

Features are 2,000 to 4,000 words of meaty critiques, essays, and articles on pop culture from a feminist perspective. We're looking for sharp-eyed perspectives on pop culture and the media, brimming with personal insight and wit. Features vary in format: interviews, reported pieces, and critical essays are welcome, as are roundups and graphically driven formats like timelines, charts, and comics. Recent features include a perspective of women whistleblowers across the globe; an interview with author Ursula K. Le Guin; an examination of name, neglect, and notoriety in the Courtney Love family tree; and a comics feature on trans and women comics artists in the industry. We also have shorter features for our book, screen, and music sections, each approximately 2200 words. Recent screen, book, and music features have included an interview with filmmaker Wanuri Kahiu; revisiting The Feminist Mystique fifty years later; and an analysis of Tori Amos' unhip fandom.

In addition to features, we’re in search of shorter pieces for the front of the magazine. Our front-of-book section features 1000-1500-word columns on film, television, language, activism, advertising, publishing, and more, with pieces taking the form of reviews, critical essays, Q&As, and activist profiles. Past columns brought attention to the stereotypes attributed to tall women on (and off) screen, the role of women in the Tea Party movement, and a Q&A with NFL-star-turned-needlepoint guru Roosevelt “Rosey” Grier.

We're always on the lookout for Love It/Shove It items. Love/Shoves are short (under 500 words) but sharp-eyed and cogent analyses of the latest things that either pleased you or enraged you. We're looking for pieces that are timely, and, more importantly, go beyond the sentiment of "Wow, this sucks!" in search of deeper meaning. Love/Shoves are accepted on a rolling basis, and are often printed on our website as well as in the magazine, so send things along whenever the mood strikes. Examples of former “Love-Its” include New Orleans’s “Sissy” Bounce music movement, the PMS Cupcake, and Original Plumbing: Trans Male Quarterly. Some “Shove-Its” took on Epic Meal Time, Dove Promises chocolate wrappers, and PSAs on sexting.

In addition, we have Bitch List items, 100-word pieces highlighting the best of pop culture, whether it's a new DVD box set of I Love Lucy, a labia-shaped skatepark, or a fun, feminist-friendly website. We also featurefilm, music, and book reviews. If there's a review up your sleeve, pitch it our way (no full draft submissions, please), keeping in mind the magazine's release date and the timeliness of your review. If you're interested in being added to our regular roster of reviewers, contact andi [at] b-word.org with samples.

Payment is $100 for features, $50 for front-of-book pieces and back-page pieces, and $10-$20 for Love/Shoves. Please send all materials to info@b-word.org, but if you must use snail mail, include a SASE and reach us at:

attn: Submissions
4930 NE 29th Ave.
Portland, OR 97211.

Illustrator's Guidelines

We're always looking for new illustrators to work with. We commission people with various styles appropriate for each individual article.

Payment is $100 for features (one full page and one spot), $50 for front-of-book (half page) and $20 for Love/Shove (one spot).

We also accept pitches for our "Adventures in Feministory" back page, where we pay homage to a feminist figure worthy of a whole lotta recognition and love, comic-style. Recent "Adventure in Feministory" heroines include Cynthia Heimel, Lucy Gonzalez Parsons, and Joan Rivers (or check out our ongoing blog series). Pitches for this specific feature should be tied to the theme of the issue, and would be developed in conjunction with our art director.

If interested, please send your portfolio link and any specific suggestions (style, topic) for artwork to Kristin Rogers Brown, or send mail (no originals, please!) to:

Bitch: Feminist Respose to Pop Culture
4930 NE 29th Avenue
Portland, OR 97211

Themes for the Future Issues

Our themes are intended to be nonexclusive jumping-off points rather than limiting factors, and below we've included a few key words that may help along your fabulous brainstorms. We encourage you not to interpret the themes too literally, and in fact to go ahead and interpret them as loosely as you wish. Furthermore, if you have an idea you think is right for us but that fits no theme, go ahead and pitch it anyway.

Red (#52, Fall 2011)

We’ve done color-themed issues in the past (2002’s Pink Issue, 2007’s Green Issue), but with this one we’re seeing red. It’s a color that’s always been rich with connotations and associations, especially for women, and we want to see what it inspires in you. In what ways is red associated with sex and gendered bodies? How is red used to color the world around us, from advertising to political campaigning to art to finance to tradition?

Key Words: Anger, lust, girlhood, debt, bloody, blooming
Pitch Deadline: February 1st

Underground (#53, Winter 2011)

What kinds of cultural phenomena are labeled—or label themselves—“underground,” and why do they invite this description? The term seems to require a separation from more superficial movements, but does underground always mean deep? Does it mean hidden or secretive? Are there certain aspects of women's personal or cultural lives that need to be protected from mainstream exposure? And where does the division between underground and mainstream lie?

Key Words: Buried, hidden, subversive, counterculture, roots, foundation
Pitch Deadline: May 1st

Frontier (#54, Spring 2012)

Cyberspace, outer space, down the street—what’s happening at the uncharted levels? The word “frontier” may bring to mind antiquated images of cowboys in the Wild West or scientists in the Arctic, but the concept goes much further and deeper: How is this new era of technology and media changing our world? How are we being shaped and affected at the cultural and individual levels? What social or political boundaries are being pushed? What isn’t being pushed—what’s going, perhaps, in reverse? Where does feminist thought and activism stand in this new landscape, and how is it both effecting the changes around us and affected by them?

Key Words: Exploration, territory, verge, terra incognita,  perimeters, sci-fi, future
Pitch deadline: August 1st, 2011

Fame/Fortune (#55, Summer 2012)

Once the rarefied arena of Hollywood stars, world leaders, and otherwise gifted individuals, fame is now a nebulous state of being that’s both increasingly tangible and increasingly meaningless. Likewise, fortune—both in the sense of luck and the omnipresence of conspicuous consumption—suffuses our collective cultural values more than ever. What are the cultural implications and gender dynamics of this new tangibility of fame? To what level has “internet famous” bled into just plain famous? Are we becoming more obsessed with the trappings of fame and wealth—and, if so, how is this changing the context of our identities, politics, and lived experience?

Key Words: Acclaim, notoriety, stardom, viral, prestige, value, wealth
Pitch Deadline: November 1st, 2011

Elemental (#56, Fall 2012)

An element: It’s basic, it’s essential, it’s ineffable. In science, mythology, spirituality, and in our everyday lives, we think of elements as the fundamental parts that make up what we experience as a whole. We also use the term "elemental" to refer to natural forces like wind and rain. So what, if anything, is elemental to feminism? And how does our culture create a relationship between gender and the elemental?

Key Words: Basic, natural, 101, primary, essential, fundamental
Pitch Deadline: February 1st, 2012

Habit(at) (#57, Winter 2012)

We live in houses and homes, but we also live in cultural locations and exist in varying cultural  and political moments. Where are we in the current convergence of our homes and our larger environments? What is to be made of the rise of cultural phenomena like DIY hog butchering and radical homesteading—and , of course, whatever the domestic tide of 2012 brings? How do gender and feminism play into our notions of valuing home, hearth, exploration, travel, and family? How do habits—both personal and cultural—inform how we understand them?

Key Words: Home, locale, architecture, environment, craft, routine, DIY
Pitch Deadline: May 1st, 2012

Guest Blogger's Guidelines

Currently we hire bloggers on eight-week long contracts, for three (or fewer, depending on the contract) blog posts per week on a topic of their choosing. Topics can be broad and general (sports, dating, television), or more specific (eco-feminism, mental illness in pop culture, web comics). The positions are paid (and fun!). If you’d like to be considered for a position as a guest blogger, send a brief description of your topic choice (including several sample-post ideas) and two writing samples (ideally blog posts) here. Bonus points if you come up with a catchy name for your blog, of course. Unfortunately we do not have the resources for one-off blog posts, so we encourage you to either pitch us a guest-blog series or send it in the form of a blog tip.