There are not enough hours in the day for all the bitching I have to do!

An interview with Lynette

Singapore


by Elke Zobl

June 2002

Can you tell me first of all a little bit about yourself? How old are you, where are you originally from and where do you reside now?
I'm 21 going on 5 (mentally) and 976 (in terms of tiredness arising from my own angst). I'm from Singapore but constantly try to pretend that I'm somewhere else. Heh. Going to be doing an Honours degree in English Literature but fear plagues me, thanks to friends informing me of the drop-out rates in various Honours programmes, bloody scumbags!

What do you do besides your zine?
Bloody hell, don't force me to examine my shiftless life...okay, *examine examine* err...I do zines, read zines, order zines and moan a lot. And this being the season of the World Cup, I watch football and hope the (bear with me) cute players score/take off their shirts.

Every issue is lovingly handcrafted by me, stolen clip art from magazines and all.

*Err, out of stock due to err, overwhelming demand.

What made you decide to start this project? How did you come up with the idea and the name?
Aargh! You're making me examine my slothful life AGAIN! I guess the main reason was to make me feel that I was actually DOING SOMETHING besides puffing out carbon dioxide and being a waste of the earth's resources, you know? But I also LOVE writing (fine, bitching) and who else was going to (a) "publish" my stuff (b) without criticising it to death and editing my nonsense till it looked like one of those soulless reports of the fluctuating price of beans or something?

The name: Cos it fits. (The zine, that is. Often I have to be quite brilliant to make the name actually fit the page. Like the zine distros that carry my zine, I'd think.)

What topics are most often discussed in your zine?
ME, of course, being the deeply fascinating creature I am. I mean, isn't everything related to ourselves and our views of the world in the end? But okay, more specifically: Friends. Zines. Relationships (with others and ourselves). Pop culture with a strong, unreasonable bias against Americans in general. And the occasional rant against snails.

What do you hope to accomplish by establishing yourzine?
A less pervasive sense of boredom. A semblance of reason to live. And OF COURSE, precious gifts in the mail.

Do you consider grrrl zines as an important part of a movement of sorts? Do you think zines can effect meaningful social and political change?
Hmmm. Well, I don't think that zines are exactly posing a threat to the mainstream media, do you? I'm definitely not hoping that my zine will be some kind of Communist Manifesto. I simply criticise what I think is warped, like
the whole body image thing, and try to create a space to escape to in this world.

In fact, sometimes I think zines actually make me more isolated from the real world, which is not necessarily as great an idea as that sounds. Sometimes I can imagine that all the world is indie shows, making kickass crafts and travelling, but it's really not, you know? Not in mine, anyway.

What does the zine community mean to you?
The one I'm in is one that's full of adorable and craft-y girls who, perhaps, are also seeking to create that space for themselves in this world through the zine community.

What advice would you give others who want to start a zine?
Err, please don't go on for the whole length of the zine about how depressed you are and how the whole array of medications you're on? (Now you're REALLY going to think I'm callous.)

Actually I've not much advice to give (besides that little grievance above) because zines really are a personal thing and you should put in whatever you want in your own zine. It's not like you have to butter advertisers up or something, isn't it?!

What are some of the zines you admire?
Oooh, fawning time! All-time ULTIMATE FAVOURITES:
1. Red Hooded Sweatshirt - Marissa Falco
2. That Girl - Kelli Callis/Williams
3. Mad Girl's Love Song - Shari Wang
4. Velvet Grass - Rebecca Dillon

note: 3 and 4 might be defunct though. Haven't heard anything about Rebecca Dillon for years and Shari SEEMS to have taken a zine hiatus (?).

Could you please describe a little bit the grrrl zine community in your country?
Not really. I'm quite separate from it. I don't think my zine is of the typical "grrrl zine" genre, in the sense that I'm not like, Yeah, revolution! Sleater-Kinney!
Women's rights! Not overtly, anyway.

Do you define yourself as a feminist?
Yeah, in the sense that I believe in equal opportunity. I always say that it's not like I want, like, the army to be 50% women or something, I just want people to choose the person that's best for the job, whether there's something dangling between your thighs or not.

What are the most pressing issues you are confronted with in daily life (as a woman/feminist)?
It's the everyday things, and the things that are TAKEN for granted as everyday things. Like, I see women clearing up after boys and men who are obviously too busy to even throw their own peanut shells away, and how both parties think nothing of it!

And to illustrate the latter: So many women and girls are going nuts trying to look slightly slimmer than your average stick figure, AND people just take it for granted that women should be doing stuff like popping pills or running to China and back every day while subsisting on a beansprout or two. Say you prefer to have proper meals rather than the odd beansprout on a plate and people will cry, "She doesn't take care of herself! Boo!"

This is unless, of course, you are born with that type of body that burns up food faster than Chris Tucker talks. THEN you could drink a gallon of deadly cocktails a day, smoke till Marlboro informs you that you're causing a possible tabacco shortage AND do all this while lolling about on your stinking couch through years of re-runs -- and many people will STILL think you're healthier than someone who weighs slightly more than a needle.

What do you think about feminism today? Do you see yourself as part of Third Wave Feminism and what does it mean to you?
Feminism has definitely come a long way, but it still has a long way more to go. But where I am, I really feel like most avenues would be open to me, which just goes to show that the earlier feminists really have achieved a lot. And maybe it's partly because I'm still pretty much sheltered from the realities out there?

Which role plays the Internet for you? Does it change your ideas of making zines and doing/reading zines?
The Internet has been paramount in my (zine) life. Most of my zine friends and contacts, I got to know online or by mail. Here is where it all begun! Oh, but I'm not likely to do an e-zine or website any time soon because I'm an old-skool type who likes the idea of some black and white booklet in my hand AND because my knowledge of computer stuff begins and ends with Microsoft Word.

Lynette can be reached at:

lynk666@yahoo.com

54B King's Road
Singapore, 268102
Singapore

copyright of images by Lynette 2002

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