+ What is Hoax? Hoax is a US annual queer feminist compilation zine that aims to create a space where we can voice our own truths. Each issue has a theme in tandem with feminisms. Contributors do not have to identify with a particular gender and/or as feminists in order to submit work to the zine. You can learn more about Hoax via links about our Mission Statement, Core Values, and Shared Goals, General Hoax FAQs, Submission FAQs, and Stipends for Submissions.
Essays in this Issue:
- An exploratory essay by a queer teacher about whether or not classrooms can be considered safe spaces
- A call to action to counteract dominant activist discourse that permits activists with privilege to police marginalized activists on the basis of not participating in activism “correctly”
- A short essay about minority feminist art spaces in the second and third wave, essentially arguing for people to not rely on tokenism
- An essay about the author’s struggle to negotiate his identity as a femme queer trans man online, including his attempts to pass as cis online while being out as trans in real life
- Using relationship anarchy and anarchist approaches to commitment to (re)frame messed-up family relationships in terms of in/accessibility
- A creative nonfiction meditation on systemic racism, white supremacist normativity, and American society’s conditioned, unconscious justification for the continuous injustices of heterosexual white men and how, historically, their heinous actions have always gone unquestioned
- A personal essay describing a young woman’s experience getting an IUD (intrauterine device) after the most recent presidential election for fear that affordable healthcare could be eliminated
- A discussion of the ways in which the queer community can be unwelcoming to those whose identities don’t fit the mainstream queer narratives
- Experiences working in a domestic violence shelter and how its nonprofit infrastructure made the author’s work harder and exasperated their caregiver burnout
- Identifying the need and subsequently carving space for oneself as a non-binary transgender feminist
- An ode to the author’s city and an understanding of how white supremacy has historically and continues to shape the city’s politics, community, and culture
- A short narrative on reclaiming physical space
- The closet metaphor is both too singular a metaphor for how the author segment their queerness online, and also inaccurate given the author’s use of trash bags for storing clothes
- Tracing the origins of Canadian queer zine culture
- Establishing distance from difficult memories, and the allegory of clocks as instruments of timekeeping
- A critique of academic spaces that addresses the importance of integrating anti-oppressive strategies into research methodology
- Orthodox Jewish and Native American menstrual rituals in America and how ritual seclusion can be perceived as empowering and used as a way to affirm identity and difference
- Distancing oneself from hostile environments, including a parent, the nonprofit industrial complex, and white feminism as manifested through the 2016 U.S. Presidential Elections, as a form of reclaiming agency and considering possibilities for a whole self
- Told in second person, an experimental creative non-fiction piece on recovering from psychosis and depression
- An examination of how the colloquialisms dispatched and the postures held by heteronormative society affect one’s personal growth
This issue also includes poetry, a comic, feminists we love, current feminist heroes, and a vegan/gf recipe for Red Lentil and Collards Soup! The zine is ½ size, black & white, 80 pages, printed in English, and very text heavy.
+ Note about Triggering Content: We are circulating the above descriptive list in an effort to reveal the content and chronological order of this issue, thus creating the opportunity for readers to judge on a personal basis as to which essays could be potentially triggering or uncomfortable to them. We have chosen not to place trigger warnings on specific pieces in Hoax because we recognize that triggers are unique and highly personal. We believe that it is impossible to discern what content has the potential to be upsetting and/or triggering to every one of our readers, and we do not want to inadvertently create a hierarchy of what material is “intense” or “real” enough to warrant a warning. Please contact us if you have suggestions as to how to better incorporate trigger warnings into future issues of Hoax.
+ Note about Pricing and Stipends: This issue costs US$3.50. All of the money procured for Hoax goes right back into this not-for-profit project. As mentioned above, pre-sales are vital for ensuring that we are able to give adequate stipends to our contributors. What we are able to offer for compensation will depend on the amount of revenue from sales and pre-sales. Although we cannot afford to pay very much (probably just enough to purchase a few zines), we hope that offering a stipend, however small, will ensure that our contributors of the present and future know that their submissions are valued and appreciated.
You can order via our Etsy shop (for PayPal payments, where you can also find back issues on mythologies, vulnerabilities, embodiments, strategy, and healing as well as some Hoax pins and many of our personal zines) or, if you prefer well hidden US cash via snail mail, you can e-mail us at hoaxzine (at) gmail (dot) com to find out where to send it. If you are interested in potentially becoming a contributor to Hoax, please check out our call for submissions for Hoax #14: Feminisms & Boundaries, which is accepting submissions until May 31st, 2017 (deadline is flexible)!
+ Note about Mailing: We will be mailing out issues on a first-come, first-serve basis as soon as possible, optimally starting on Monday March 27th – but our ability to purchase necessary printing / mailing supplies and send copies out depends on when we will sell enough zines to afford to get everything in the mail. As always, feel free to send us an email if you have any questions about the status of your order.
+ Note about Not Listing Contributors’ Names: We have included a screenshot of the Table of Contents above to safeguard our contributors from “being Googleable” while providing credit and transparency as to who collaborated on this issue. Content that is consented to appear in print is not automatically consented to appear online and respect for our contributors’ comfort, safety, and privacy is also one of many reasons why circulated issues of Hoax are only found in hard copy form.
+ Other Ways to Support this Project: We’d love for you to submit content to future issues of the zine, come to an assembly party (upcoming in Baltimore!), write a review about Hoax, recommend it to your friends and favorite zine distros, and/or donate money to overall Hoax operations via PayPal (our account is hoaxzine at gmail dot com).
Please reblog to spread the word! Happy reading, y’all!
With care,
sari (Editor) & rachel (Editorial Assistant)
