Feminism according to Censored Magazine

Talking about feminism is always quite complicated, and despite the great media attention for movements like #MeToo and Time's Up or the general debate about rights and equality, the theme remains quite controversial. On the one hand we tend to misuse this term, to abuse it, to use it just because it's trendy; on the other, we must remember that many of the battles carried out by feminist women in the '70s aren't over yet, instead they have changed throughout the years along with the developments of the society, but we can't deny that we still have a long way to go. The prime example is Ireland, a European country where the Abortion Act became legal just a few months ago, but where at the same time rapers are discharged if the victim was wearing a thong.

About a year ago Clementine, who studied graphic design at St Martins School in London, and has become in the meantime a journalist, realized that many of the aspects revolving around being a woman today, with everything that implies, weren't adressed by French medias. Thus she decided, along with sister Apolline, art director and stylist, and brother Louis, manager, to give life to Censored Magazine.

After long debates related to our personal and intimate experiences as women, we realized that we could link our feminist convictions and respective competences through a magazine, melting journalistic and artistic parts, mixing activism, reflexion, and creativity.

Every issue of the magazine focuses on a different topic, the first one is entitled Un Corps à Soi, a body of one's own, clearly inspired by Virgina Woolf's masterpiece A room of one's own, and keeps in the forefront the debate about the female body, in all its forms. In a period of time where everything is digital, Clementine decided to create a physical magazine, where the reader can dive into, by touching the paper, losing himself among the words and the images.

This magazine aims at showing that feminism is for everyone. Women, men, everyone in between. By dealing with intimacy, politics, society, culture, art, we want to show how interdependent it is.

Despite a movement like the one of #MeToo, many people haven't fully understand its importance and significance, and have remained true to their ideas and prejudices on it. Censored Magazine realized from the beginning that the perfect target were the younger generations, free from outdated beliefs and society. And youth got it.

The visual and artistic experience is a core element of the magazine, as much as the journalistic deepening. Long and deep articles are in fact complemented with images and artworks, "to communicate to our generation, who grew up with images, this is the best way to catch attention. Art is often the consequence of politics, it is expression of intimacy, and intimacy is political. So art definitely helps to deliver political messages."

The first issue of Censored Magazine was launched just three weeks ago, but so far the response of the audience seems to be the one the founding siblings were hoping for, with artists who want to collaborate, people who want to tell their experience and positive critics. For a magazine that values words just as much as images, Instagram is of course a fundamental means of communication.

Instagram is our best friend and our worst enemy. It allows us to reach people and to express, but at the same time, we are often censored, in particular because of our first cover, which shows woman tits on a close up.