It Ain't Me, Babe (newspaper)

Cover page of the fourth issue of It Ain't Me Babe, dated March 15, 1970.

It Ain't Me, Babe was a newspaper published in 1970 by Berkeley Women's Liberation, a feminist organization. The paper has been called "the first feminist newspaper," ^{[1] [2]} although that distinction may only be accurate within Second-wave feminism in the United States. The newspaper debuted with an issue dated January 15, 1970. It published at least 15 issues, but was in operation for less than a year. ^[2]

Among the newspaper's producers were feminist Laura X ^[3] and comic artist Trina Robbins, ^[4] who worked on a special comics edition, also titled It Ain't Me, Babe.

The newspaper advocated a decentralized feminism movement: "We must keep in mind that we are a movement not an organization. Our movement can and will be composed of many action organizations differentiated by their political orientation — rather than a single organization that attempts to represent everyone's politics." ^[5] It called for global solidarity among women, critiqued male-dominated culture, opposed US wars in southeast Asia, advocated women's self defense, and published a first-person account of rape. ^[2]

References

1. Mather, Anne D. (1973). History and analysis of feminist periodicals. University of Georgia. p. 78.
2. Armstrong, David (1981). A Trumpet to Arms: Alternative Media in America. South End Press. p. 229. ISBN   978-0-89608-193-2.
3. "October 3, 1979". A Documentary Chronicle of Vassar College. Archived from the original on October 29, 2018. Retrieved 2018-10-29.
4. "Trina Robbins". She's Beautiful When She's Angry. Retrieved 2018-10-29.
5. "The Women's Movement," It Ain't Me, Babe, March 15, 1970, p. 2.