Editor's Note
Streak
of Red Crayon:
(the obligatory Editor's note)
"That
damn mob of scribbling women..."
-Nathaniel Hawthorne, from a letter to his publisher, mid-1850s
Welcome
to the second issue of Scribbling Mob, the egalitarian feminist literature and
art magazine produced by the Middle Tennessee State University community.
I
should first say that I am a second-generation feminist, and even though I have
never shied away from admitting that, it has lead people to assume certain
things about me. However, the depth
to which stereotypes about feminists have taken hold in our society never fully
struck me until I became the editor of this magazine.
In
soliciting submissions, I would first see people's art work and writing and tell
them I was looking for just such a thing for Scribbling Mob.
Their first reaction was, invariably, something along one of these lines:
"Isn't
that a lesbian thing?"
"I wouldn't call myself a feminist..."
"I'm a guy."
"But I like men."
It
took me awhile to convince several people that you can be straight and be a
feminist (although there's certainly nothing wrong with lesbians and I won't
deny that lesbians make up a substantial number of political feminists).
Also, it came as a shock to others that there are male feminists, and
furthermore, that our layout editor isn't a woman. Even weirder still were people that I assumed were feminists
by their words and deeds but would never call themselves feminists because they
thought it sounded "too harsh".
I
hope that within this issue of Scribbling Mob everyone can see that feminists
come in all shapes sizes, genders and with their own wide range of ideals about
love. Of course, lots of people
will still assume that being a feminist still equals being an angry lesbian
raging against men...but then, when I took this job I knew it wasn't exactly the
kind of position that would get me laid...oh well.
Enjoy
the diversity,
Elizabeth
C. Ferguson
Editor in Chief