Edinburgh International Book Festival: Time to Fight for Feminism

Review by Ceris Aston | 22 Aug 2014

Baxter and Cosslett set up their blog Vagenda Magazine in 2012 to – in their own words – ‘call bullshit' on the mainstream women’s press. With typical irreverence, they pinched the subtitle ‘Like King Lear but for girls’ from a Grazia article, which rather illustrates their point. Two and a half years later, they’ve published a book and are telling their story to a packed marquee at the Edinburgh International Book Festival in an event called Time to Fight for Feminism. The audience numbers reflect a resurgence of interest in feminism over the past few years after what Baxter describes as a dearth in the 90s. The Vagenda team were at the forefront of this new wave of internet-generation feminists. Baxter remembers, “We were profiled as the faces of fourth wave feminism – and we were like, ‘what is that?’” The writers didn’t grow up self-identifying as feminists, but now embrace the term. “For a lot of people it’s a journey – like it has been for us,” says Cosslett. “A lot of people’s idea of feminists is that they are radgy women in dungarees yelling at people – it’s hard. It’s a constant struggle.” Baxter explains: “for me, a feminist is a person who believes in gender equality – with no tick boxes or categories beyond that.” It’s hard to imagine anyone disagreeing with this most basic tenet of feminism, but as Cosslett and Baxter are only too aware, "feminism was sabotaged by the media." Still, for Baxter, "if people believe in the tenets that’s OK – we’re 90% there. I’m not too upset about whether they take on a label or not."

The friends were living together in London when they started the blog – or, to be more precise, Baxter was living in Cosslett’s airing cupboard. ("When we told the publishers that they said they didn’t want hyperbole – it was true!") After graduating into the recession, they say: “when we started the Vagenda we had absolutely nothing to lose.” Lacking the funds to go out, the two found entertainment in reading women’s magazines to one another. “Holly used to read aloud to me from these magazines in a sarcastic voice,” remembers Cosslett. “It was funny but there was also an underlying anger.” With such gems as Cosmo’s ‘Step Away From the Penis’ article being offered as genuine relationship advice, they wondered whether there might be traction in making fun of it. As it turns out, there was.

Baxter and Cosslett are impassioned, humorous and intelligent. The close of their talk is met with a barrage of questions: Why do we still read women’s magazines? How can we educate young girls? What can we do? The pair respond thoughtfully, deliberating over each question.  

“Women’s magazines: they seem like your fairy godmother, telling you how you can be better,” considers Cosslett. “But I have never come away from a women’s magazine not feeling bad about myself.” It’s unsurprising, considering that, as Baxter points out, “advertising sees women being vulnerable and insecure as a marketing opportunity.” Glass slippers are killers to dance in, and magazines cash in on us feeling like the Ugly Sisters.

For young people, they feel that education is key: “we don’t feel young people are being given the critical tools to analyse the media.” Education begins with “opening a dialogue – a really good way of engaging people is through humour.” Rather than passively receiving the media, children and teenagers should be taught to be critical and to recognise the bias and distortion present in the media’s representations of reality.

As to making further change, Cosslett and Baxter are hopeful. “It’s OK to demand a better, a more diverse media,” Baxter asserts. “Especially as more things are moving online.” Cosslett agrees: “Because of Twitter and social media, we have the first international solidarity movement of women. It’s a really crucial time.” Many women’s magazines have not survived the dying print industry, and Cosslett credits this to dissatisfaction and boredom with hearing the same messages peddled again and again: “Women have brains and they’re interested in more sophisticated content.” If this seems like a radical notion, their point is proven. Time to fight for feminism. 

 

Holly Baxter and Rhiannon Cosslett hosted Time to Fight for Feminism at Edinburgh International Book Festival on 14 Aug http://www.edbookfest.co.uk