BUST - 10th anniversary

[LadyJo]

Has anyone read the latest issue of BUST? There are great interviews with Cher and Camille Paglia, plus an article titled "gay men we love" featuring my heroes Allen Ginsberg, Isaac Mizrahi, and Divine.

[Candyass]

I checked it out and loved the Amy Sederas (sp?) pictures, but overall I have been dissapointed in that magazine...too much white girl feminism and frankly I have never gotten through a whole issue...check out Bitch...and you would think a feminist magazine would do somthing different than a "Gay Man We Love " issue for their 10th anniversary.

[redbobsled]

Originally posted by Candyass
I checked it out and loved the Amy Sederas (sp?) pictures, but overall I have been dissapointed in that magazine...too much white girl feminism and frankly I have never gotten through a whole issue...check out Bitch...and you would think a feminist magazine would do somthing different than a "Gay Man We Love " issue for their 10th anniversary.

I second these feelings. Back in the mid-90's I loved Bust. It was not the glossy commercialized rag it is now. It was printed kind of sloppily on newsprint type pages and every single page brought something exciting and interesting. Now it's just like Jane or something. Well, maybe a teensy bit better than Jane, but not much. I used to subscribe, but no more. I like Bitch as well, but it's sort of a feminism overdose for me. After about half of it, i'm like "Jeeeeezzz enough already, I GET IT!!!"
I'm still patiently awaiting a really excellent magazine to subscribe to.

[Candyass]

I agree...take me back to the days of the quality feminist and queer zines...This shit is to commercialized!!!

[postfeminist]

but bitch & bust are better than nothing...i just take what i like from each one. i'm not a subscriber to either mag.

[LadyJo]

I've heard others voice the same opinions about BUST - too glossy, too white and middle class, not queer enough etc. etc.
While I understand these concerns, I still enjoy reading the magazine. I agree that BUST is mostly representative of white middle class women, but I honestly believe that that it tries to be inclusive to everybody. They also put cool celebrities on the cover like Janeane Garafalo, Margaret Cho, Ann Magnuson, Missy Elliot, Christina Martinez and Frances McDormand. You won't be seeing these interesting, complex women on the covers of Cosmopolitan or Jane. Speaking of Jane, I disagree that it shares any similarities with BUST. Jane Pratt tries to make her magazine come off as totally different from the rest of the pack, but it's the same old story. There's the same lame celebrity worship and the assumption that New York and L.A. are the center of the universe. the days of Sassy are long gone and are not coming back.

I also read Bitch and enjoy it, but I really like BUST, and think that it's a hell of a lot better than most of the women's magazines out there.