The Life and Times of Butch Dykes, zine, 2009

Photo by Kevin Grady/Radcliffe Institute

Zines are privately published magazines and books with a limited circulation. They originated as small-scale efforts, and many had an indie perspective or antiauthoritarian message. In the years before the digital revolution and social media, which has proved to be a natural platform for amplifying self-expression, zines filled a void. They emerged as a forum for genuinely independent publishing—often self-publishing. They were a medium for those whose voices were not part of the mainstream.

Since the early 1990s, young women have been the most prominent zine creators, and the Library holds hundreds of examples of their work. The Life and Times of Butch Dykes, by Eloisa Aquino, is, in her words, “about the lives and times of amazing women who could be considered icons against heteronormativity.”

Aquino, Eloisa, The Life and Times of Butch Dykes, Montreal: B&D Press, 2009–

Catalog record:

http://id.lib.harvard.edu/aleph/014925648/catalog

Learn more:

Learn more by exploring the Schlesinger Library’s research guides to its LGBTQ+ collection as well as on zines.

Read about the Library’s collection of magazines and zines.