The People’s Monthly Rag is all about making statements: shocking, explicit, in-your-face statements.
The publication, headed by an anonymous group of self-proclaimed radical feminists on campus, is scheduled to print its first issue in mid-March. The Rag accepts submissions of writing, art and images that relate to radical feminism. According to its creators, The Rag uses an element of shock as a way to stop people in their tracks and make them re-evaluate their own beliefs.
You may have seen signs of the new student group popping up on campus within the last month, literally. Bright red fliers attached to bulletin boards and bathroom stalls showcased a presumably menstruating and cramping young woman with her knees open and nightgown hitched to reveal her crotch blackened out by graffiti and the name of The Rag printed neatly over the dark void.
“It’s meant to get your attention,” said Slutorious, one of the group’s many creators.
Of course, Slutorious isn’t what it says on her birth certificate. Rather, it’s a pen name she created for herself, just like the other members of the group. The general staff of The Rag, which is considered a student group at PSU and funded by student fees, has eight members: six female and two male gender-identified. They work as a collective, on an equal level with each other, and have no rank or superiors. All members of the group go by pseudonyms and people who make submissions to The Rag are given the option to create one as well.
The group protects their own anonymity and the anonymity of their contributors as a way to maintain a safe place where they can voice their ideas and experiences free of persecution or censorship. They encourage people to get personal, but don’t think it’s necessary to attach the name of a real person to those expressions. The aliases also give The Rag another coveted opportunity to shock the public.
“The pen names were meant to be kind of out there and offensive,” said Slutorious, who chose her name to relate to the topic of her first Rag article.
The names cover the spectrum, with more or less tame ones like Armando Lagando, weird ones like Jenny Knife Fight and perhaps the most graphic, Clitora Clot.
“I like it because menstruation is something that is usually kept hidden,” Clitora Clot said.
You’d think by their flier-the red one-that all they want to talk about is periods. But the real concern of The Rag is empowering the oppressed by getting them to align themselves with the publication. The oppressed, as they see it, is anyone afflicted by patriarchy, sexism or male domination.
“Radical feminism, as opposed to other types of feminism, is about getting to the root of the problem, which I see as patriarchy, and denying the system that is oppressive,” Slutorious said.
One of the major distinctions of radical feminism, as Clitora Clot explained, is its emphasis on action.
“It’s when the personal is political. It’s about changing the structure, not working within it,” Clitora Clot said, with the tone of a rehearsed mantra.
For each issue, The Rag will have a different theme related to their mission. The first issue is themed, “How you became menstrual,” or, as Slutorious explained, how you became a feminist. The issue will focus on defining what it means to be a radical feminist. The theme of the second issue, for which they are currently accepting submissions, will be “Get off the internet and get on the street.” It will focus on the things people can do to actively promote radical feminism.
Slutorious and Clitora Clot were both extremely vocal about The Rag’s pro-participation ideology. Submissions are chosen by a consensus of the staff, not a total agreement. A difference of opinion within the group or externally is encouraged to be the fuel of other submissions.
“If someone disagrees with an article, they should write an article about it,” Clitora Clot said.
The Rag became a student group in January. They plan to distribute their publication through organizations both on and off campus, as well as local hangouts in the community, for free. According to Slutorious, the group doesn’t plan to run advertisements in their first issue, but may choose to run them in the future, free of charge, to promote other groups or events that relate to their cause.
So if you want your personal, political, radical feminist voice to be heard, The Rag encourages you to send submissions their way at therag@pdx.edu. Or if you want the definition of a personal, political, radical feminist, which is about as specific as you can get in terms of classification, pick up a copy of The Rag in March.
People’s Monthly Rag mission statement and rap
The personal is political when it comes to my ragWhen people don’t recognize my rag I get madI am sick of those tampons that hide in your handBut first I need every man to understandThat I can bleed once a month without dyingAnd I am proud of my blood–even when I’m cryingMy blood is magic and men should go get itMen were born from the chaos how could they forget itAllow us our space cause we are claiming it nowI don’t want my menstrual blood to furrow your browWomen, men, gender queer and any who is otheredRespect for our blood and the blood of our motherComing together in the name of menstruationSo everyone’s invited cause we’re pro-participation.