''On the Issues'' is an online-only progressive

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 ...

news and opinion magazine founded in 1983 as a print magazine: ''On the Issues: The Progressive Woman's Quarterly''.

History

''On the Issues'' was started by social psychologist

Merle Hoffman Merle Hoffman (born March 6, 1946) is an American journalist and activist. Shortly after New York State legalized abortion in 1970, three years before the Supreme Court's ''Roe v. Wade'' decision legalized abortion nationally, Hoffman helped esta ...

in 1983 as a quarterly print magazine intended for an audience of "thinking feminists". The magazine has operated out of

Forest Hills, New York Forest Hills is a mostly residential neighborhood in the central portion of the borough of Queens in New York City. It is adjacent to Corona to the north, Rego Park and Glendale to the west, Forest Park to the south, Kew Gardens to the southeas ...

, and also out of

Flushing Flushing may refer to: Places * Flushing, Cornwall, a village in the United Kingdom * Flushing, Queens, New York City ** Flushing Bay, a bay off the north shore of Queens ** Flushing Chinatown (法拉盛華埠), a community in Queens ** Flushing ...

. It was primarily written by freelance writers. Earlier in 1971, Hoffman established Choices Women's Medical Center. A

pro-choice Abortion-rights movements, also referred to as pro-choice movements, advocate for the right to have legal access to induced abortion services including elective abortion. They seek to represent and support women who wish to terminate their pre ...

activist, Hoffman has said that "women's lives, women's thinking, women's votes, women's power matter." In 1999, Hoffman added an online component to the magazine. In 2008 after 25 years of publishing, Hoffman ceased printing the magazine and transferred it to an online-only format based in

Long Island City, New York Long Island City (LIC) is a residential and commercial neighborhood on the extreme western tip of Queens, a borough in New York City. It is bordered by Astoria to the north; the East River to the west; New Calvary Cemetery in Sunnyside to the ...

Content

''On the Issues'' was founded as a progressive alternative to mainstream media coverage. The first number carried articles about the beginnings of

AIDS Human immunodeficiency virus infection and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) is a spectrum of conditions caused by infection with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), a retrovirus. Following initial infection an individual m ...

and about the newly described condition of

premenstrual syndrome Premenstrual syndrome (PMS) refers to emotional and physical symptoms that regularly occur in the one to two weeks before the start of each menstrual period. Symptoms resolve around the time menstrual bleeding begins. Different women experienc ...

(PMS). Among many other topics covered in the magazine have been surgical practices on genitals,

domestic violence Domestic violence (also known as domestic abuse or family violence) is violence or other abuse that occurs in a domestic setting, such as in a marriage or cohabitation. ''Domestic violence'' is often used as a synonym for ''intimate partner ...

and

eco-feminism Ecofeminism is a branch of feminism and political ecology. Ecofeminist thinkers draw on the concept of gender to analyse the relationships between humans and the natural world. The term was coined by the French writer Françoise d'Eaubonne in h ...

. Every issue includes a section reporting recent developments in the

reproductive rights Reproductive rights are legal rights and freedoms relating to reproduction and reproductive health that vary amongst countries around the world. The World Health Organization defines reproductive rights as follows: Reproductive rights rest on t ...

debate. First published in ''Utne Reader'', 1991. Hoffman is an

animal rights Animal rights is the philosophy according to which many or all sentient animals have moral worth that is independent of their utility for humans, and that their most basic interests—such as avoiding suffering—should be afforded the sa ...

feminist; the magazine has carried articles sympathetic to animal rights. Animal rights advocates such as

Carol J. Adams Carol J. Adams (born 1951) is an American writer, feminist, and animal rights advocate. She is the author of several books, including '' The Sexual Politics of Meat: A Feminist-Vegetarian Critical Theory'' (1990) and ''The Pornography of Meat'' ...

Joan Dunayer Joan Dunayer is an American writer, editor, and animal rights advocate. She is the author of two books, ''Animal Equality'' (2001) and ''Speciesism'' (2004). Dunayer graduated from Princeton University and has master's degrees in English literature ...

and

Roberta Kalechofsky Roberta Kalechofsky (born May 11, 1931 – April 5, 2022) was an American writer, feminist and animal rights activist, focusing on the issue of animal rights within Judaism and the promotion of vegetarianism within the Jewish community. She was t ...

have contributed articles.

Reception

Professor Gerald Sussman of

Portland State University Portland State University (PSU) is a public research university in Portland, Oregon. It was founded in 1946 as a post-secondary educational institution for World War II veterans. It evolved into a four-year college over the following two decades ...

described the magazine as "Gramscian", that is, promoting revolutionary change but within the existing political structure, as described by Italian political theorist

Antonio Gramsci Antonio Francesco Gramsci ( , , ; 22 January 1891 – 27 April 1937) was an Italian Marxist philosopher, journalist, linguist, writer, and politician. He wrote on philosophy, political theory, sociology, history, and linguistics. He was a ...

. Leftist ''

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 ...

'' magazine described ''On the Issues'' as "a strong feminist voice that's reasoned, literate, highly readable, and tackles topics of concern to women." The ''

Utne Reader ''Utne Reader'' (also known as ''Utne'') ( ) is a digital digest that collects and reprints articles on politics, culture, and the environment, generally from alternative media sources including journals, newsletters, weeklies, zines, music, and ...

'' praised ''On the Issues'' as "articulat ngthe female experience through many feminist voices and without resorting to male-bashing."

Contributors

*Cindy Cooper, Managing Editor *Sarah Browning, Poetry co-editor *

Judith Arcana Judith Arcana is an American writer of poems, stories, essays and books. She was a teacher for forty years and her writing has appeared in journals and anthologies since the early 1980s. She has been an activist for reproductive justice since sp ...

, Poetry co-editor *Mark D. Phillips, Technical and creative design director * Linda Stein, Art editor *Eleanor Bader, Contributing editor *Vanessa Valenti, Social media editor *

Elayne Rapping Elayne Antler Rapping (December 24, 1938 – June 7, 2016) was an American critic and analyst of popular culture and social issues. She authored several books covering topics such as media theory, popular culture, women's issues, and the portraya ...

* Leslie Cagan *

Carol Downer Carol Downer (born 1933 in Oklahoma) is an American feminist lawyer and non-fiction author who focused her career on abortion rights and women's health around the world. She was involved in the creation of the self-help movement and the first self- ...

Margaret Morganroth Gullette Margaret Morganroth Gullette (born 1941) is a resident scholar at the Women's Studies Research Center at Brandeis University. She is a writer of nonfiction, an essayist, and activist. Her contributions to the field of cultural studies of age inclu ...

Amanda Marcotte Amanda Marie Marcotte (born September 2, 1977) is an American blogger and journalist who writes on feminism and politics from a liberal perspective. Marcotte has written for several online publications, including ''Slate'', ''The Guardian'', an ...

Laura Whitehorn Laura Jane Whitehorn (born April 1945) is an American activist who participated in the 1983 United States Senate bombing and was imprisoned 14 years in federal prison. In the 1960s, she organized and participated in civil rights and anti-war mov ...

Ursula K. Le Guin Ursula Kroeber Le Guin (; October 21, 1929 – January 22, 2018) was an American author best known for her works of speculative fiction, including science fiction works set in her Hainish universe, and the '' Earthsea'' fantasy series. She was ...

Toi Derricotte Toi Derricotte (pronounced ''DARE-ah-cot'' ) (born April 12, 1941) is an American poet. She is the author of six poetry collections and a literary memoir. She has won numerous literary awards, including the 2020 Frost Medal for distinguished lifet ...

* Helène Aylon *

Guerrilla Girls Guerrilla Girls is an anonymous group of feminist, female artists devoted to fighting sexism and racism within the art world. The group formed in New York City in 1985 with the mission of bringing gender and racial inequality into focus within t ...

Jesus Barraza Jesus Barraza is a print maker and graphic artist who started working as a layout editor in 1994 of the Xicana oppositional newspaper La Voz de Berkeley. He worked as a graphic designer for student groups at UC Berkeley, community organizations ...

Melanie Cervantes Melanie Cervantes (born in Harbor City, CA) is a Xicana artist and activist based in the Bay Area. Background Cervantes grew up in a small city in the South Bay area of Los Angeles, CA. Her father was a paper box printer and her family's po ...

Favianna Rodriguez Favianna Rodriguez (born September 26, 1978) is an American artist and activist. She has self-identified as queer and Hispanic and Latino Americans, Latina with Afro-Peruvian roots. Rodriguez began as a political poster designer in the 1990s in the ...

Naomi Wolf Naomi Rebekah Wolf (born November 12, 1962) is an American feminist author, journalist and conspiracy theorist. Following her first book '' The Beauty Myth'' (1991), she became a leading spokeswoman of what has been described as the third wave ...

John Stoltenberg John Stoltenberg (born 1944) is an American author, activist, magazine editor, college lecturer, playwright, and theater reviewer who identifies his political perspective as radical feminist. For several years he has worked for ''DC Metro Theat ...

* Marcy Bloom *

Sonia Pressman Fuentes Sonia Pressman Fuentes (born May 30, 1928 in Berlin, Germany) is a German American author, speaker, feminist leader, and lawyer. Early years and education Fuentes was born in Berlin, Germany, of Polish parents, with whom she came to the U.S. to ...

* Barbara Katz Rothman *

Amy Goodman Amy Goodman (born April 13, 1957) is an American broadcast journalist, syndicated columnist, investigative reporter, and author. Her investigative journalism career includes coverage of the East Timor independence movement, Morocco's occupation ...

References

External links

* {{Official website, http://www.ontheissuesmagazine.com
Choices Women's Medical Center
Defunct women's magazines published in the United States Feminism in New York City Feminist magazines Magazines established in 1983 Magazines disestablished in 2008 Magazines published in New York (state) Online magazines published in the United States Online magazines with defunct print editions Progressivism in the United States