Don't Be Afraid of the F-Word: Feminism, Fun, and the Future

In preparation for this panel celebrating the twentieth anniversary of the Journal of Feminist Studies in Religion, I scouted around for some data on the current "health" of feminist publishing. On the one hand, there were notables such as Ritu Menon, founding editor of the press Kali for Women, and the editors of the newsmagazine off our backs, who declared feminist publishing to be "in crisis." ¹ Surely this is strong language. But the near termination of the Women's Review of Books is certainly troubling, as is Marlie Wasserman's report that sales of "gender studies" books are decreasing at academic presses. ² On the other hand, there was the glowing 2003 report in Publishers Weekly about the Feminist Press titled "Feminist Publishing for Fun and Profit." The Feminist Press saw a 75 percent boost in sales revenue when it introduced the new series Femmes Fatales: Women Write Pulp. The success of the series garnered the attention of bookstore conglomerates; Virgin Megastores placed its first order with the press. The editorial director of the Feminist Press, Jean Casella, attributes the success of the press to a new publishing strategy that includes the admonition "Don't be afraid of the F-word." Now, it seems reasonable to conclude that Casella meant feminism ; but others quoted in the article stressed another F-word, declaring simply, "Fun sells." ³

I am not sure I know what to make of my conflicting data. Apparently some feminists are having fun and some are not. Part of me wants to ask all of us gathered here tonight, Are we having fun yet? After twenty successful years for the JFSR, I think it is safe to say we've had some fun. But what about that other F-word, the future ? What of the future of the JFSR ? Gazing into my crystal ball, I can confidently say there is a future in JFSR 's future.

I say this based on my assessment of JFSR 's past five years. Five years ago I participated in the celebration of the journal's fifteenth anniversary. The celebration consisted, in part, of an AAR panel that was subsequently published as a Living It Out section entitled "Publish Not Perish," in the Spring 2000 issue of the JFSR. All of the participants—Katie Cannon, Mary Hunt, Kathleen McPhillips, Letty Russell, and I—were clear that the JFSR is much more than a journal. The JFSR was spoken of as "feminist praxis," as a feminist "network," as a "publisher/producer of feminist knowledge," as a group of "feminist liberationists" "expos[ing] the underside of reactionary misogyny and repressive religious realities," and as a "life raft in a stormy sea." These comments are echoed by Ritu Menon, who writes:

For feminist publishing, or publishing for social change, is by definition, a "developmental" activity in every sense of the word. It is a long-term investment involving the surfacing or excavating of hitherto unremarked or unacknowledged work; often initiating research or writing on subjects that have been ignored or discounted; working closely—and uneconomically, it might be added—over long periods with authors; above all, developing material, awareness, skills, writers and markets and, not least, developing a readership. This is more or less true, generally, but particularly in countries of the South.⁴

The fact that five years later we are now hosting a conference (and not just a panel at the AAR) confirms this vision of the JFSR as far more than a journal. Indeed, the JFSR is an institution, albeit an unusual one—one that uses and shares its power to denounce oppressive power structures and to liberate persons from these structures. JFSR was a hybrid institution from the start, with linkages to both the academy and the feminist movement. An indicator of how successfully JFSR has continued to negotiate this hybridity was its transition to...