-edited by marcelle karp & debbie stoller
1999
Bust is a girl-power feminist magazine, born in the early 90s and still going strong. It's mostly wonderful! Even though third-wave feminism itself isn't as brainy and empowered as the waves that came before, its best thinkers give cause for hope and pride. Bust happily outs female outlets like Cosmo, Glamour, and the Lifetime Channel, as idiot's paradises (but also gives permission for any woman to occasionally indulge, as a guilty pleasure). The articles in this anthology may leave you laughing or fist-raising. A few might make you sad, as you realize how trapped and unevolved even many of the smartest women still are, when it comes to sex and romance. The subtext in those articles feels like nothing so much as "I'm so damaged i don't know up from down...it's all so horrible i don't even have the first clue as to WHY all this happened, WHAT i actually need from life, and HOW i might begin to find it." The worst example is "Don'ts for Boys" - it starts off feeling smart and honest, but soon descends into a depressing morass from which the obvious stupidity of Vogue would be a welcome release. But the far, far greater portion of the book is devoted to wonderful, smart articles on bodies, beauty, sex, men, childhood, motherhood, and celebrities. Has Bust changed me? Indeed. With corroborated testimony that the best cunnilingus may be coming from another species altogether (woman's best friend?), there may be some upcoming modifications in my technique. Get the book, get the magazine...for your friends, your children, your men, and yourself.
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