Space Squid has been chugging along for a a few years now, and it’s surprised me that no-one has really said anything about the way that there’s always a woman on the cover. I mean, sure, we’ve named them Squid Grrrls in order to muddy the feminist-theory waters, but I really didn’t expect anyone to be fooled.
So imagine my relief when finally, someone bothered to send us a letter about it. It reads:
Sorry, but if you used less predictable, sexist images on your cover, I would be more tempted to read it, as the content looks fun and interesting. If the mag is meant to be about imagination, then why does that not translate to the imagery too? You can have women but just–this is completely mainstream stereotyping and, sorry, it sucks.
Okay, being a party-pooper here. I know. And, no I’m not a frumpy jealous sixty-year old. Just someone who hates the way that leftfield publications like this play into mainstream pop culture crap.
But hey, you probably don’t give two hoots
All the best
Katie W.
So are the Space Squid covers sexist? Are they less sleazy than the actual contents (I was told the latest issue is "pervy", so maybe the cover is an appropriate warning). Are we being particularly worse than mainstream pop culture crap, or is Space Squid a patriarchal regression to a barbaric age of pulp sci-fi imagery that we ought to leave behind us?
In the interests of full disclosure, I should note that our Squid Grrrl this issue,
Ms. Ruby Joule, is a member (in good standing) of the Jigglewatts burlesque troupe.
