The Bust Guide to the New Girl Order - Softcover

Marcelle Karp; Debbie Stoller

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0140277749 ISBN 13: 9780140277746

Publisher: Penguin Books, 1999

Synopsis

Both a literary magazine and a chronicle of girl culture, Bust was born in 1993. With contributors who are funny, fierce, and too smart to be anything but feminist, Bust is the original grrrl zine, with a base of loyal female fans--all those women who know that Glamour is garbage, Vogue is vapid, and Cosmo is clueless. The Bust Guide to the New Girl Order contains brand new, funny, sharp, trenchant essays along with some of the best writings from the magazine: Courtney Love's (unsolicited) piece on Bad Girls; the already immortal "Dont's For Boys"; an interview with girl-hero Judy Blume; and lots of other shocking, titillating, truthful articles. A kind of Our Bodies, Ourselves for Generation XX, The Bust Guide to the New Girl Order is destined to become required reading for today's hip urban girl and her admirers.

About this title

About the Author

Marcelle Karp, a.k.a Betty Boob, is an award-winning television producer (Lifetime, Fox, HBO) and a contributor to Spin, Details, and Jane, as well as one of the co-founders of Bust.

Visit Bust Online: www.bust.com.

Reviews

In 1993, self-described "cubicle slaves" Karp and Stoller, along with their friend Laurie Henzel, produced the first issue of Bust, a smart, slick and often hilarious 'zine by and for women in their 20s and 30s who, after growing up with second-wave feminist mothers and Madonna, feel let down by traditional women's magazines. This anthology provides a healthy sample of offerings from the magazine, which is still being published.. Written under pen names ("Tabitha Rasa," "Simone de Boudoir"), the essays often start with the body and boy talk that is the clich?d subject matter of women's magazines, but they subvert the dominant media viewpoint with searing, deeply personal writing. Demonstrating that the personal really is political, the collection reflects a refreshingly egalitarian outlook, featuring the voices of young women of different races and classes, some more educated than others, but none too self-conscious. Arranging their material by topic (sex, men, becoming a mother, beauty, etc.), the editors introduce each section with simultaneously pithy and funny feminist analysis. Often controversial, the collection includes interviews with porn stars, happily adopts the term "do-me feminist" and uses the word "girl" to describe grownups. Ultimately, Bust supports women's right to pursue whatever they find fulfilling. Adeptly capturing its cultural moment, this vibrant anthology is a must-read for those who consider themselves versed in all things pop. Agent, Lydia Wills. 8-city author tour. (Aug.)
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

The editors of the increasingly popular magazine by and for third-wave feminists offer up a manual for girls of the '90s. Hip may be an overused word, but no other fits this compilation quite as well. Bust is the magazine for the ``third wave'' of feminists, a publication that, in the words of founding editor Karp (Stoller is her co-founder), teaches women to ``defy the backlash with a proverbial middle finger . . . . enjoy being the girl with the most cake and ask: Can I have some more?'' The pieces here, most selected from past issues of the magazine and some commissioned especially for this book, demonstrate what appears to be the mandate of Bust. They're less solemn and full of doom than those found in Ms. and have an intelligence and subversion missing from the articles in the rest of the so-called women's magazines. Divided into eight sections, with overly lengthy and sometimes superfluous introductions, the book has a wide range that includes pieces on body image, style, sex, motherhood, and the media. Besides essays (written pseudonymously by both women and men) that touch on such universal experiences as keeping a diary and negotiating the single life, there are more singular explorations, like the interview with the curator of the Museum of Menstruation, a man whose avocation is cataloging the American attitude toward ``feminine hygiene'' as demonstrated in media and history, or the list of guidelines entitled ``Don'ts for Boys,'' which is an honest and humorous litany that provides a refreshing argument to the reactionary voice of books like The Rules. Reading this book straight through is a bit overwhelminglike any guidebook, it's best savored in bitsbut thoroughly rewarding. Irreverent and smart, this guide is a must-read for the ``brave new girls'' of today and those who wish to understand them. (Author tour) -- Copyright ©1999, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Karp and Stoller don't believe that breasts make the bust. Any cup can runneth over because of implants, but brains and bravura are the stuff a real bust is made of. Karp, Stoller, and Laurie Henzel founded BUST magazine in 1993 to chronicle the sex lives, careers, and fears of "Generation XX"Athe "girl-women" in pursuit of 21st-century feminism and happiness. Collected here are frank, quotable, and whip-smart essays and interviews on masturbation, dating, pornography, homosexuality, motherhood, rock'n'roll, and celebrity. Women who equate feminism with man-hating will think again; the editors want both sexes to be of "equal value," and they write affectionately about men (e.g., Sonic Youth's Thurston Moore) who are working toward that vision. BUST breaks down everything that a girl should know but that Cosmopolitan is afraid to print. Highly recommended.AHeather McCormack, "Library Journal"
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Edition details

• Publisher: Penguin Books
• Publication date: 1999
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0140277749
• ISBN 13: 9780140277746
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 400