Slant Zine Cover

Mimi Thi Nguyen, a Vietnamese-American scholar and former punk zine author, created the Riot Grrrl zine Slant. Riot Grrrl zines exemplified the power of print through their accessibility in production to spread marginalized female voices within punk culture. Their rapid circulation, from local punk shows to global distribution, turned self-publishing into a subversive force. However, the main voices of this movement were heavily white dominated. They rarely spoke about first-hand experiences of racism that WOC endured. This was a big controversy that is still being discussed in terms of the movement. Slant was a turning point, as it directly challenged the whiteness of Riot Grrrl and punk feminism through design. The cover of Slant reflects this radical intent with eye-catching typography and language paired with high-contrast imagery, a DIY aesthetic that echoes Riot Grrrl aesthetics, but reframed within the context of WOC in punk. Slant was created in direct response to Nguyen's public argument with a Maximumrocknroll columnist who joked that Asian women have "strange and inhuman genitals" and a song he wrote about sexually assaulting her. Due to these disgusting remarks, Nguyen produced radical zines to amplify the neglected voices of Women of Color in punk. This print production of zines. They were made to amplify the present but neglected voices of WOC. The content centered around issues of misogyny, racism, class, and privilege. Through Slant, Nguyen transformed the narrative of feminist discourse and zine-making into a tool of resistance, visibility, and political critique.