Andi Zeisler (born c. 1972, New York) is a writer and co-founder of ''

Bitch Media ''Bitch'' was an independent, quarterly alternative magazine published in Portland, Oregon. Its tagline described it as a "feminist response to pop culture", and it was described in 2008 by ''Columbia Journalism Review'' as "a respected journal o ...

'', a nonprofit feminist media organization based in

Portland, Oregon Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers, Portland is the county seat of Multnomah County, the most populous co ...

Biography

In 1994, Zeisler graduated from the

Colorado College Colorado College is a private liberal arts college in Colorado Springs, Colorado. It was founded in 1874 by Thomas Nelson Haskell in his daughter's memory. The college enrolls approximately 2,000 undergraduates at its campus. The college offer ...

with a BA in fine art. After graduation, she moved with high school friend

Lisa Jervis Lisa or LISA may refer to: People People with the mononym * Lisa Lisa (born 1967), American actress and lead singer of the Cult Jam * Lisa (Japanese musician, born 1974), stylized "LISA", Japanese singer and producer * Lisa Komine (born 1978), ...

Oakland Oakland is the largest city and the county seat of Alameda County, California, United States. A major West Coast port, Oakland is the largest city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, the third largest city overall in the Bay A ...

and began making plans for their own

zine A zine ( ; short for '' magazine'' or '' fanzine'') is a small-circulation self-published Self-publishing is the publication of media by its author at their own cost, without the involvement of a publisher. The term usually refers to writ ...

when '' Sassy'' magazine was purchased by another publisher. ''Sassy'''s change in focus led the pair to believe there was a niche they could fill. In 1996, Zeisler and Jervis co-founded

Bitch magazine ''Bitch'' was an independent, quarterly alternative magazine published in Portland, Oregon. Its tagline described it as a "feminist response to pop culture", and it was described in 2008 by ''Columbia Journalism Review'' as "a respected journal o ...

as an all-volunteer zine with a circulation of three hundred copies. In 1998, the pair began to grow the magazine into a quarterly publication with help from the Independent Press Association. It was later an internationally distributed with a circulation of more than fifty thousand. Bitch Media's mission was to provide and encourage an engaged feminist response to pop culture. In 2007, the magazine was moved to Portland and in 2009 rebranded as Bitch Media. It later ceased publication in 2022. Zeisler's writing, which focuses mainly on

feminist Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social equality of the sexes. Feminism incorporates the position that society prioritizes the male po ...

interpretations of popular culture, has been featured in a variety of publications including ''

Mother Jones Mary G. Harris Jones (1837 (baptized) – November 30, 1930), known as Mother Jones from 1897 onwards, was an Irish-born American schoolteacher and dressmaker who became a prominent union organizer, community organizer, and activist. She h ...

'', the ''

San Francisco Chronicle The ''San Francisco Chronicle'' is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of Northern California. It was founded in 1865 as ''The Daily Dramatic Chronicle'' by teenage brothers Charles de Young and M. H. de Young, Michael H. de ...

'', and ''

Ms. Ms. (American English) or Ms (British English; normally , but also , or when unstressed)''Oxford English Dictionary'' online, Ms, ''n.2''. Etymology: "An orthographic and phonetic blend of Mrs ''n.1'' and miss ''n.2'' Compare mizz ''n.'' The pr ...

'' Zeisler's 2016 book, ''We Were Feminists Once: From Riot Grrrl to Covergirl®, the Buying and Selling of a Political Movement'', examines marketplace feminism (the appropriation of feminist messaging as a marketing strategy), and relationships between pop culture and feminist challenges to power through activism.

Published works

* ''BitchFest: 10 Years of Cultural Criticism from the Pages of Bitch Magazine.'' Published in 2006, ''BitchFest'' is a compilation of memorable articles from Bitch Magazine throughout its ten years of circulation. * ''Feminism and Pop Culture: Seal Studies''. Published in 2008, the book follows the impact of feminism on pop culture. * ''We Were Feminists Once: From Riot Grrrl to CoverGirl®, the Buying and Selling of a Political Movement''. May, 2016 from

PublicAffairs PublicAffairs (or PublicAffairs Books) is an imprint of Perseus Books, an American book publishing company located in New York City and has been a part of the Hachette Book Group since 2016. PublicAffairs was launched in 1997 by Peter Osnos. ...

, ''We Were Feminists Once'' explores the commercial co-optation of feminism.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Zeisler, Andi Living people American editors Year of birth missing (living people) American women editors American women journalists 21st-century American journalists 21st-century American women writers Journalists from New York (state) Colorado College alumni