here’s the thing that turns me into a spiraling vortex of pure rage every time i see one of those extremely cursed takes about how to fundraise/print/market your slick full-color “”zine”” - (1/??)

the fundamental purpose of a zine is to provide an avenue outside of mainstream publication methods where marginalized voices can exist and be heard. zines are about ACCESS TO INFORMATION. zines are NOT about making money.

“”low-budget”” cut/paste style zines aren’t some quaint artifact from the pre-digital past - they’re an active form of resistance against oppression in this capitalist hellscape in which we live. they are a LIFELINE for marginalized people.

furthermore, they are pretty much THE ANTITHESIS of the way capitalism works. making something that is NOT A ZINE and embodies all of the things zines stand against by turning it into a money-making venture and calling it a zine is the very definition of absurd.

shoving something that looks like traditional print media (i.e., glossy, full-color, has an editorial team, costs a bunch of dollars) into the same category as something i personally wrote as a handhold to keeping myself alive and produce/share for minimal/no cost is SMOTHERING.

this is a “kinda looks like a duck if you squint from a distance but it’s actually a private jet plane but we’ll call it a duck anyway, who cares if it lands on the actual ducks and smashes them into the ground, they all have wings so what does it matter” line of thinking and -

i am so, so tired of it. there’s room in the world for small indie press projects AND zines alike, just. stay in your goddamn lane and stop trying to invade zinespace with things that ARE NOT ZINES.

that’s my essay. THE END.