Customer Reviews

Girls Guide to Taking Over the World: Writings From The Girl Zine Revolution

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Absolutely the best purchase I've ever made. This book is incredible. It will have you falling off the bed laughing, clenching your fists in frustration, wiping your teary eyes, shaking your head with an evil grin on your face, and most importantly, it will leave you completely saturated with inspiration.

If you've ever had anything at all to say to the world, but didn't - whether it was because you weighed yourself down with doubt or just kept making excuses - this book will get you off the couch and into the right place to write your own manifesto.

This book really gives hope to all those girls out there, who, as I did at 16, wonder if they're the only non-apathetic teenage girl left in the world. This book clearly shows that feminism is not dead, simply modified. This book is a must for all those girls who want to buck the establishment encouraged view of women as mere playthings.

I would give this book Ten stars if I could. Without a doubt, this should be required reading for every young girl.

If you know nothing about zines, then this is one of the best books to start with. If you want to know more about third wave feminism or girl culture (esp. riot grrrl culture), I'd again recommend this book. It's easy to read and articles range from the hysterical tongue-in-cheek "barbies we'd like to see" to the in-depth look at the idea and reality of sisterhood. The articles are as diverse in subject matter as the girls themselves. Queer, Asian-American, African-American, Moms, Jewess--whatever. Almost all shades of the spectrum are covered. But what is truly the essence of the book, and the point of zines, is that nothing is censored, drained of content and put in a pretty, grammatically correct package ready for consumption. It's totally DIY and all the editors did was put together the best so that all girls, even those NOT living in metro USA, could reach out and learn how to get into the loop and meet like-minded young women. Or become a zine-goddess themselves.

This book totally changed my life. I bought it when i was first starting my zine, and it totally got me motivated, inspired, and feeling incredibly empowered. There are so many wonderful grrrl zines out there, and this is a great representation of just a small amount of them. i highly recommend this book to everyone, b/c it's so beautifully full of information, empowerment, life, and honesty that someone in a glossy magazine like seventeen just isnt going to give you.

I love D.I.Y. - the self-sufficiency of it, making your own rules, the freedom of expression, the "only limited by your own imagination" swing of it - and zines are a perfect example. Such a great outlet for sounding off, acting up, getting silly, making a point, and unrestrained creativity in general.

This is a wonderful compilation of what girls in the zine world have been up to and a great source of inspiration for those who are interested in starting their own or would just like to know there are others out there who feel the same way she does. Due to the lack of almighty higher ups to answer to, the idiosyncrasies, obsessions, and pure raw energy of the authors are not ironed out, watered down, or completely obliterated. Of course, this leads to a mixed bag in the quality department but you can't blame a girl for giving it her all. Editors, Karen Green and Tristan Taormino, have done a fine job of culling from some of the best.

The young women in this book tackle such topics as family, religion, sexism, racism, body image, sex, rape, feminism, guns, and celebrities. There is much insight and wisdom in these pages, as well as humor and a dose of absurdity.

For every female who has ever been told to behave, shut-up, be nice, lose weight, keep your legs crossed, sit up straight, be a good girl, smile, look pretty, blah blah blah...some kind of conduit is needed to release the repressed rage and humiliation. Making a zine is one solution and it's far more beneficial than cutting up your arms.

This book is so great!! I continue to reread it and rediscover aspects of it everyday! Wow, what a great read!! If you are at all interested in female indepedence this book is for you. You will be continually amazed--I was!

I used to pass this book around in Highschool, It's funny, smart, and an eye opener, you realise that there is no matter who you are, someone else out there who understands

This book is great!!!!! My partner and I have become inspired, have begun a zine and can't wait for another book like this one to hit the shelves. I liked it the most because it gave grrrls the voice they deserve to be heard with!!!!!

A thoughtful, well-written, well-researched history of the girl-zine revolution. Ms. Taormino provides great insights into this sociological phenomenon that every magazine publisher (and every girl) should read. Underground magazines give voice to the masses, and it's clear from this book that the Big Boys better watch out!

EXTREMELY disappointing. Admittedly, my expectations were high, but really now. Most pieces were either boring or a complete BACKLASH to the feminist movement. Specifically the piece "Baby don't do it" which is about how stupid you are to get pregnant and how you'll never have a good life and blah blah blah, the pieces written by BUST writers, because their whole magazine (even the pieces in this book) were all a bunch of garbage, including a piece where the writer whines about her dad being the best man in the whole world, so now she can't find a good man because none of them are like her father. BOO HOO. Then there is a piece titled "what does sassy mean to you" and this girl lists all of these horrible things sassy promotes, but then goes on to talk about how great it is. Oh yeah, and there's also an article on how terrible grrrl bands/musicians are today, which is complete trash, because we've never been stronger. I think I've ranted enough.

I bookmarked all of the good pieces that promote real issues and feminist-minded experience, etc. and i got six. six. that's sad, and i'm sorry for those wonderful, amazing women who are being paired with such ....

I probably shouldn't have gone off, but i this book is definitly eye-catching and any grrrl of my generation would drool at the site of it, and that scares me. i don't like knowing that grrrls might feed from such ignorance.

I love this book. I first saw it when my friend was reading it for a womens studies course. All the text inside comes from different zines from the riot grrrl movement and there are some beautiful works in here.