We are always excited to Support Your Local Mama Gang and share the important work of fellow mamas. Two of our PMUK members Gosia and Steph have created a kickass zine called Mama Riot that you just have to get a copy of. Paying homage to the riot grrrl of the past, these two have put out their first issue recently and aside for getting an issue for myself to review, I also snagged one which we gave away on our Instagram.
The zine is filled with the stories, art & photos of mamas who won’t be quite. With a toddler it had been hard to get a moment to read it, but I finally carved out some time and had a chance to sit down and really get into it and well shit, it has left me feeling inspired on a variety of levels.
As a teenager, I created my first zine in high school. It was a rite of passage in the 90s for any self-proclaimed riot grrrl. Within it I had feverously taped friend’s poems and drawings together and photo copied them haphazardly together. It’s front cover was a drawing of my school engulfed in flames. Thanks Jay. My friend Rick and I made 50 copies and distributed them around campus. It didn’t take long for it to be seen by my school administration and quickly got banned at school. Success! It was the first time I had put myself to a project like this, and spoken up. It definitely wasn’t the last.
We asked some of our Instagram followers what they won’t be quiet about.
The answers were effin everything!
My riot often expresses itself in quieter ways. A dad being mean and ignorant towards his son and his feelings was the most current thing that got me loud and outspoken. @nvonhorst
Things I can’t help but be loud about (I’m a blast on Facebook): gun violence. Violence against women. Intersectional feminism. LGBTQIA+ rights. Black Lives Matter. Parenting conscious kids. Mom Squads. Attachment Parenting. @analog_alva
I won’t be quiet about a mother’s right to know what’s best for her individual family and her right to stick up for her beliefs at all cost. My main fight is with health care professionals, particularly pediatrician, about our ~healthy~ vegan lifestyle. Every ped I’ve seen has got something to say and it’s usually about protein. As a mother I do tons of research and I think to be vegan you have to do the same so being constantly doubted is so frustrating. We are healthy, dang it. @momhew
I won’t be quiet about flexible working hours for mums and childcare help for working families. I work over 50 hours a week and the strain on our family sometimes doesn’t make it worthwhile, not to mention the tired Grandparents who pick up the pieces too for free! ✌?️@mumontherun101
We all have different passions, and mine is a childhood of learning and play. That might seem really shallow at first but hear me out. For generations now we live in a society that discourages natural learning and play. We tell our children to act a certain way, behave, conform, don’t talk back. We take away their individuality and voice. For what? So they don’t get their hands dirty? You keep your house clean? So they behave perfectly in the grocery store? For who? And we are seeing the repercussions from it. Lack of motor skills, social skills, sensory issues. That’s exactly what my Instagram handle is here to promote. Letting your children BE children as independent individuals, with their own voice that’s listened to and respected. Letting them explore and play in surroundings that are both inviting and enriching. As the Frizzle said, to “Take chances, make mistakes, and get MESSY!” That way we raise children that don’t have to recover from their childhoods. That’s what I’ll never stop being loud about. ?? @respectthemess
I don’t get loud because my anxiety is too powerful. I’m working on myself every day ❤️ I’d like to get loud about having overwhelming anxiety and depression while trying to be the best mother I can. Id like to get loud about honest motherhood- the good, bad, and ugly parts of it. I’d like to get loud about raising girls and boys the same way. Teaching them to love every one, teaching them to have a kind heart. I’d like to get loud about intersectional feminism. I’d like to get loud and proud about being a feminist mom and how it doesn’t mean I’m raising little she-woman man haters (why do people still think that’s what feminism is?!). I’d like to get loud about so many things and I can’t wait until I can get this under control and scream my opinions and beliefs at the top of my lungs @mama.magic
I won’t be quiet about the things new moms experience that others don’t want to talk about. I won’t not talk about PPD or “the baby blues”. I I’ll respond honestly about my feelings when people ask how being a new mom is. I’ll tell them it’s a hard, emotional roller coaster. It’s not always amazing. I won’t smile and not talk about the hard parts just because it makes others uncomfortable. The more we talk about it together, the better we will all feel. I won’t be quiet about the importance of supporting each other as mothers, instead of judging. @young_emc
I won’t be quiet about mental and emotional abuse. I was in a toxic relationship for 8 years, and have only been out of it for three months. But it’s three months of clarity I haven’t had in a very long time. I want women everywhere to know they should never be silenced, nor their feelings dismissed. That you should never be made to feel like you are crazy, or to question your own hurt feelings. No one should be able to rip your self-esteem from you, EVER. I literally just opened up about my story on my blog for the first time publicly. I just haven’t attached the link to my IG yet. Girl gangs unite ?? @two.wildflowers
What I won’t be quiet about- obstetrical violence and the violation of basic human rights in childbirth. Those who know me know it’s a hot topic I’m passionate about and talk about constantly- it’s also a big part of my practice as a birth professional and I pride myself on advocating, verbally and with my physical presence, for my clients. It has caused conflict in facility, but I refuse to allow anyone, EVER, to abuse or invalidate the individual or family I’m there to support. @jenniferlynn_
I get loud about brown and black motherhood. I get loud about intersectional feminism. I get loud about single parenting. I get loud about vulnerability, magic, and ownership of self. every damn day!! @lottaboutte
I will never, never be quiet about feminism, especially a woman’s right to chose. Being a parent is difficult, being pregnant is difficult. I’d never want someone forced into it when they aren’t capable, willing, or desiring of it. @sugarskullie
Consent! It can be taught from the beginning- don’t wait until adolescence! @loudmouthedlady
What I won’t be quiet about: Pregnancy discrimination. I lost my job with Whole Foods (Ohio) simply for not being able to continually lift 50+ pound boxes. My OBGYN placed me on a lifting restriction (duh, as is every pregnant woman) and requested reasonable accommodations throughout my pregnancy. I was fired instead. Losing my job destroyed my life, but now all these years later, I’m lobbying for OH Senate Bill 301 and am a face for ERA ratification. I won’t be quieted about gun violence, discrimination and racism of ALL kinds, rape, and equal rights for ALL @razorwalker78
I can’t keep quiet about the need for diverse media for children & youth, because#representationmatters so damn much. I’m also currently helping to organize a 2nd #BlackLivesMatter protest in Berlin & I keep telling people that single mothers & people raising kids without a cis-man need more support & started a series with interviews about those parents … so uhmmm intersectional feminism ftw! @riot.mom.industries
Can’t quiet my voice about shaming children…. After all a person’s a person no matter how small ??????????? xx @barbiekaylehartley
Mama Riot would LOVE to include your voices in their zine, mamas! They publish quarterly and accept submissions in any medium that can be transferred to B&W print (writing, art, photography, etc.)
From their Instagram…
S U B M I S S I O N S WANTED FOR MAMA RIOT, VOL 2: THE MOTHERS OF COLOUR EDITION
For the 2nd edition of Mama Riot we invite submissions from all mothers of colour, about every aspect of womanhood and motherhood – the private and the political, the sacred and the mundane, the beautiful and the ugly, the secular and the spiritual, the blissed out and the brutal. We want to shine a light on the full spectrum of womanhood because, in the words of Staceyann Chin, we come in too many flavours for one fucking spoon. // Mama Riot actively opposes the misrepresentation (and underrepresentation) of women of colour in the media, especially within media representations of motherhood. // We reject the white, patriarchal, capitalist, aspirational model of motherhood that monopolises western media. Not only does this model dismiss WOC, it feeds into the structural racism, toxic masculinity, class inequality and xenophobia that continues to blight our world. Our aim is to create a female collective that recognises, empowers and tells the stories of ALL mothers. // We welcome work in whatever medium you wish to use – prose (of up to 1500 words), poetry, painting, drawing, photography, or any other medium that can be printed in black and white. // And you may submit pieces anonymously. // Mama Riot is printed on a supply and demand basis and then lovingly sent by pigeon mail to those of you who need honest, diverse expressions of womanhood in your life. // Email your submissions, labelled ‘mothers of colour edition’, by August 19th 2016
How do I get in I this? I wanna submit!!!!
you can email them at mamaswhoriot@gmail.com