Debbie Stoller (Celina Hex) and Marcelle Karp (Betty Boob) are the
creators, editors and publishers of Bust magazine and the Bust.com
Web site. Now, they are the proud editors of the fresh new book
"The Bust Guide to the New Girl Order" (Penguin Putnam) which the
press materials tout as the "first word in Girl Culture from the
editors of the magazine for women with something to get off their
chest."
 Girl
Culture? If you have to ask, the back of the book defines the collection
of essays as "the best and funniest writings from the front lines
of feminism. Covering everything from boys to bras, sex to Sassy,
Madonna to motherhood" -- real, raw writing from the pages of their
grrl zine for "women who know that Glamour is garbage, Vogue is
vapid, and Cosmo is clueless." Ouch! Truth hurts and truth is good.
So what is Bust, really, and what kind of woman does it take to
start a Bust movement? Halfway through the Bust book tour, Marcelle
Karp devoted a late-night hour in LA to furiously responding to
my email. Here's what she has to say.
She-Brain Opinionated...
WOMANROCK: How would you describe Bust to someone who has no idea
what it is?
Marcelle: where do i start. well it's late, so i'll be brief. it's
a feminist magazine that's fun and sexy and cranky and unlike anything
you have ever seen.
WOMANROCK: Why should Bust exist?
Marcelle: well, that's the kind of question financiers ask! bust
should exist because women need to know that there is a better women's
magazine out there, one that isn't full of fantasy and fluff and
palaver, one that won't demonstrate ten quick solutions to better
thighs, that won't stifle your need to express yourself, that will
encourage your desire to your pleasure. that there is no such thing
as a bad body. that there is more to life than looking good for
your man. and bust must exist because every woman needs to know
that she's not the only one out there that feels the way she does,
whether she's sporty or spicy. we feel it, too.
WOMANROCK: Who is the most important person in your life? Who is
the most important person in the world today?
Marcelle: my parents. they are the reason i am so driven. i think
the most important person in the world today is anyone's parents.
WOMANROCK: If someone calls you a "feminist" what do you say?
Marcelle: hell yeah.
WOMANROCK: If someone calls you a "bitch" what do you say?
Marcelle: keep it coming luv.
WOMANROCK: What is your pet issue right now?
Marcelle: the anti girl sentiment that is growing in leaps and bounds
even as i type this. i've written about it, in my editors note in
the back of the upcoming issue of bust, in the intro to the men
chapter in the book. i support and applaud adam horovitz's speech
at the mtv awards; it brought tears to my eyes that he took the
opportunity to remind the world and his community of artists about
the need to protect women and girls from the anti female sentiment.
The Girl Order Way of Business...
WOMANROCK: What were the key steps you took to making the first
Bust a reality?
Marcelle: the key steps, after talking about it for a year, was
to call debbie up and say, hey did you ever do anything with that
idea we had a year ago and when she said no i said, well lets do
it. that's all it took. for one of us to say, let's do it. then,
of course, came the hard part., trying to figure out how the zine
thing worked, getting our friends to have faith in us and write
something. finding illustrators, getting a logo, getting distribution,
xeroxing and stapling. etc etc etc.
WOMANROCK: How are you going to continue to grow circulation?
Marcelle: in baby steps. we have been doing this for six years and
all three of our roles have changed and shifted and evolved. one
of the best things we ever did was get an actual professional distributor
to handle our distribution for us. she got us POP (point of purchase
displays) in barnes and noble. she got us more clients, etc. when
i handed over the actual distribution job to her, we were at 12,000
circ. now we're at 36,000.
WOMANROCK: How is the Internet/Web benefiting the Bust cause?
Marcelle: it means anyone anywhere in the world can have access
to bust. soon we'll have real content up there like our unedited
interviews and such, which will make the site even cooler, cuz we
have some kick ass interviews with some amazing women. but i digress.
we've started a little she-commerce business, we've made it easier
to purchase subscriptions online and that for sure, from an economic
perspective, has helped us growwwww.
WOMANROCK: What other media are you exploring?
Marcelle: does sleeping count?
WOMANROCK: Any upcoming projects you'd like to plug?
Marcelle: "the bust guide to the new girl order", and soon, real
soon, WBUST, a radio show that we have been talking about doing
forever. one day we'll get to it.
WOMANROCK: How do you use the Internet, both personally and professionally?
Marcelle: i have been using email since 1983 when i was in college
and taking computer science courses and had an email address, marce@bitnic.com
(which i had to earn). i use it to communicate, to keep in touch,
etc. i use the internet for information, primarily. to keep tabs
on things that interest me, like all the cool girlie stuff that's
going on and airline fares.
WOMANROCK: What advice do you have for women writers/artists/creatives
who want to get it out there?
Marcelle: get off your ass and make it happen. if you feel like
you can't do it on your own, find someone with a similar vision,
map out your dreams with her and make it happen. frankly sometimes
it's more fun to do it with someone else. just don't get all rock
starish on your partner and be like, it's my band, i'm the lead
singer, it's my lyrics that make the world sing. team work means
team work. if you've partnered up with someone, and you gals get
successful, don't forget that you would not have gotten there without
the other. that's something that people forget when they taste a
little bit of success. adulation from others is great; recognition
is better, but it's the actual product--what you've created--that's
the star, not you, not your partner. it's a bitter pill, and that's
why so many bands and artists and such split up, because they can't
handle not being recognized individually. so if you want to be a
superstar, do it on your own and don't let any one else trip all
over your ego.
Woman Revealed...
WOMANROCK: Looking back at yourself pre-puberty - what were you
like?
Marcelle: in school, i was a tough kid, a smart kid, a troublemaking
kid. I was a total brainiac tomboy who was a girlie girl. every
day after school, i would run home, do my homework and then run
over to my best friend denise rothstein's house (they had wall to
wall carpeting, and we didn't) and we'd play with our barbie dolls
(you can read about my barbie obsession on www.underwire.com). then,
when her parents would come home from work, we'd go out and play
with the kids in the neighborhood. i lived in a total melting pot
in the 70's--kids of all ethnic backgrounds, around my age, children
of immigrants, with not a lot to do. i had a skateboard, i played
scully (i had a huge scully cap collection), i played paddle ball,
i played softball. i wasn't a great athlete. it's just that all
the girls and all the boys on the 'block' played together. there
weren't enough boys to have teams so the girls were always included
in everything.
WOMANROCK: What did you think of yourself back then?
Marcelle: i knew i was the coolest thing in the world. my mother
made my outfits for me, and she was a total hipster, with cleopatra
eyeliner and short short short skirts. because i was always put
in the 'smart' classes, my parents spent a lot of time supporting
me and reminding me that i was the great white hope of the family.
so i had a lot of confidence.
WOMANROCK: And what did you want to be when you grew up?
Marcelle: in first grade, i wanted to be a teacher, like my first
grade teacher, mrs mantani. in second grade, i wanted to be just
like ginger on gilligan's island. i wanted to be a sultry movie
star. in third grade, i knew i would become a writer; that's when
i started reading in the dark and went from two eyes to four eyes.
my bedtime was 9pm, but i was never finished reading whatever book
i was trying to finish that day. after my parents turned out the
lights, i would open the curtains and use the streetlamp light as
my source of light. i ruined my eyesight that year. now i am legally
blind. in fourth grade, i knew i would direct because i was obsessed
with movies.
WOMANROCK: Today, how would you describe yourself?
Marcelle: that's one of those questions that always makes me uncomfortable.
the way i see myself is so completely subjective. i can say that
i am a go getter and a doer. suffice it to say, it's all good.
WOMANROCK: What is your life like?
Marcelle: i have a good life. i have a successful career. i don't
suffer from a lot of things that many other people suffer from.
i have a dog and 2 cats. i have a tight, appreciated network of
friends. i've created something with debbie and laurie in BUST that's
filled a void in our culture. that makes me feel like i've contributed
to the world at large, for the greater good.
WOMANROCK: Who do you admire today and why?
Marcelle: i admire alot of people, too many to create a laundry
list of. i admire women who are survivors and women who are creators.
one woman i completely admire is gloria steinem and really, a why
is it so not necessary to explain that one.
|
|
