ABOUT OUR NAME

Have you ever sat in a class and had a discussion that just rubs you the wrong way? There are times when someone will make a comment in class that just oozes pus bombs loaded with misogynism, sexism, racism, classism, or any one of the other multiple “isms” that are out there. We can feel your fury rising but take a deep breath and let it go because these aren’t the scenarios that our ‘Zine aims to address. Rather, we hope to shed light on those moments where you’re sitting in class or having a conversation and a classmate or a friend blurts out a comment that just doesn’t feel right and bites at you – but not enough for you to speak up and actually do anything about it.

All of us, whether we’ll admit it or not, have been in these kinds of situations where we know there’s something deeply contradictory in the statement just made. But because we feel as if we don’t know enough on the subject or because we feel absolutely alone in our opinion or for whatever other reason we sit silent and complacent in our seats and feel helpless in letting an opportunity that we might not even fully comprehend – pass us by.

That ITCH…that almost insignificant queasiness or sense of unease that we feel in the pits of our stomachs is what WE at *ITCH are all about. We want to acknowledge that your itch, that small discomfort you sometimes feel during conversations is perfectly valid and supportable. It is coming from somewhere and it’s about time that we pay attention to it, that we become more educated because of it, and that we give it a voice. A voice to recognize that our feelings as women are valid and deserve to be heard!

And that brings us to the dual meaning imbedded in our name. Because at its core, *ITCH is a Feminist ‘Zine that wants to redefine and reclaim what it means to be a Third Wave Feminist as a man or woman here at UCR.

So, let’s return to our hypothetical classroom, dorm room, or anywhere else one might happen to have a conversation these days. Let’s take a bird’s eye view of a conversation happening between a woman we both know and a group of other individuals. All of a sudden, this woman is deeply affected by something just said in conversation. And before we know what’s happening, her words come roaring to the surface, erupting in a brutally honest, embarrassingly loud, and deeply emotional confrontation. Her face turns red and she might even shed a tear or two. The room falls silent as everyone turns to stare at this woman and I can bet you one thousand dollars that everyone in that room is thinking the same thing… “WHOA! What a *ITCH!!!” And automatically, she is isolated from the rest of us. Why???

*ITCH is all about recognizing and supporting the power behind female emotions. Usually, the word “BITCH” is an insult hurled at women to shut them up. Too frequently, a woman is labeled as a bitch when she goes out and speaks her mind, expresses her opinions, and refuses to shy away from recognizing that what she is feeling is real. Women who refuse to live with that constant itch and who reach back to scratch it, to address it, to tear it away – are labeled as bitches. And that’s exactly who we want to be. We want people to start thinking about the language that they use when addressing the women in their lives and we want women and all advocates for women to start getting passionate about issues that we can no longer stay quiet about. We hope you enjoy our first issue. Your Editors in Chief. We ARE the BITCHES with an ITCH to see change occur!