Alternative Sex: October 1983

Posted on February 20, 2008 by AL Puppy

Alternative Sex was made by Nicky, Illayne, Angie, Beck, Steph, Jenny, Debbie, Mouse , Griet and Val and was published in October 1983.

8 comments

Chris
February 21, 2008 at 5:12 am

I’ve got loads of old anarcho-feminist type zines and mags. Always found it a fascinating subject and area of the ‘scene’ in fact, I went on to waste a few years taking ‘textual-sexual politics’ as one of my subjects at uni and studying the various tenets of ‘feminism’. While much of the Dworkinite ‘rad-fem’ theory is clearly reactionary, misogynistic bollocks dressed up as ‘liberation’ but i think a lot of the @-fem stuff in zines like the above was more an extension of the emancipatory nature of punk, rather than any well defined attack on patriarchy. Another factor i always found interesting being that since the writings of Emma Goldman, Elizabeth Gurley Flynn etc in the 1920s anarchism has traditionally rejected ‘feminism’ per se as it had been seen as positing docial devisions as being gender, rather than class, based. to paraphrase IWW organiser, E.G. Flynn “no one can tell me the maid in the pantry has more in common with the rich lady she slaves for than the male servants she works with”, not to mention the rather archaic notions extolled in anarcho feminist type zines of ‘porn = theory / rape = practice’ etc , theories which only ever kept the likes of Catherine McKinnon on a lucrative speaking circuit alongside fellow ‘anti porn crusading’ homophobes and anti-abortionists, and the rapists who could use their ‘findings’ in mitigation.

All this stuff is very much, ahem, ‘of its’ time’, but I always wonder what the people who wrote a lot of it would make of it now. Think Eve discussed it briefly in the Crass book, but it would be interesting to see how others have reappraised their views over the past quarter decade.

Incidentally, there was an excellent book which explores these contradictions called
‘I , Claudia: Feminism Unveiled’ by Caroline Walton, copies of which I believe are still available at a knock-down price in either Housmans or Freedom. Well worth a read.
Val
May 9, 2008 at 3:35 pm

Blimey where did this come from? I would love to see the whole mag again, if whoever put this up still has it? I never kept a copy of it – sold the whole 500 print run, but could never be bothered to do a second issue.
AL Puppy • Post Author •
May 9, 2008 at 8:08 pm

Val

I put this up – still have a copy. Will scan rest for you – soon as I have a spare moment.

AL
Tony Puppy
May 10, 2008 at 12:18 am

The ‘how I lost my virginity’ section of the fanzine still holds resonance to this day.
Val
May 10, 2008 at 4:41 pm

Re – How I lost my virginity – I had collected some boy versions for issue two but thats as far as I got with it. Also always had a sneaky suspicion that that page had inspired Jarvis Cockers film Do You Remember The First Time, as Dave from Leeds had taken some copies away to sell up there.

AL you are brill! Would love to see/read it all again!
AL Puppy • Post Author •
May 10, 2008 at 6:14 pm

Val – found Alternative Sex and will start scanning – but have Callum busy making tvs out of bits of wire and Lego. Takes him about 15 minutes then we have to put it in his room and make another one. Will have to fit the scans in between.

Just scanned the Gay Punx page from KYPP 4 and will post.
Tony Puppy
May 11, 2008 at 1:19 am

Gay Punx is already on the web in the puppy photobucket – issue 4.
John L
December 1, 2008 at 9:48 pm

Found my copy, scanned it, and posted it for your reading delight:

http://anterotesis.com/flatpress/index.php?entry=entry081201-202330

Very important zine.