A new feminist magazine aimed at readers in their teens and twenties launched at The Ritzy last Thursday. New arts contributor Alex Lemon went along to find out more.
Parallel Magazine, with the tagline ‘Unashamedly Feminist’, was set up by editor Sophie Elliott because she felt none of the current women’s publications matched her views.
“I grew up in a feminist household and I wanted to get into journalism. I wasn’t really comfortable applying for internships at magazines like Cosmo because I don’t really like the message they put out.
“There are a lot of feminist magazines out there but not aimed at young adults. We wanted something that would draw in teenagers as well – that’s why we have Kate Nash as the cover.
“It’s visually appealing so young people might pick it up off the shelf and see you don’t have to live in the way other magazines say, or be pleasing men, or dressing the way they tell us to.”
It’s taken Sophie, 22, four months – alongside working full-time in a call centre – to create Parallel’s first edition, with help from contributors around the UK, the US and Australia.
Published quarterly, it will be funded by a £6,000 Kickstarter. “We didn’t want the magazine to be too commercial and have adverts that weren’t the message we’re trying to put out,” said Sophie.
The Brixton launch party gave the editorial team and their backers a chance to celebrate publication day, with music from all-woman acts The Tuts, Colour Me Wednesday and Annabel Allum.
Sophie, who runs the magazine from Norwich, said: “Brixton seemed like a creative area and a good place for our launch, from looking at events that had been here in the past.”
