25 FeministA to Mainstream Media in Spain and Latin America

From the most playful topics to the most serious, these platforms provide alternative coverage of current affairs – with a feminist lens.

Marcha del 8M en Argentina, 2018. Foto: Belén Altamirano/Wikimedia. CC S-A 4.0.

22 August 2018 (openDemocracy)* – Women around the world are using the internet to express opinions and discuss topics about which, historically, they haven’t been heard.

Feminists have created blogs to reflect on the movement and platforms to coordinate and organise actions. We’ve also seen their strength on social media; in 2017, there were more than 12 million #MeToo posts, comments and reactions in just one day on Facebook.

This digital revolution has had an impact in Spain and Latin America too, where there are many blogs and online newspapers with feminist perspectives. Dozens of projects launched over the last decade represent diverse points of view on feminisms, and issues and communities still underrepresented in mainstream media.

Here are 25 media platforms from Spain and Latin America that combine their commitment to quality information with feminist values:

* The Spanish Tribuna Feminista and Ameco Press give women leading political and social change the attention they don’t receive from other media. They apply a feminist lens to their reporting, including on topics like economics and sports.

* The Mexican communication agency CIMAC investigates the conditions and roles of women in society to provide data and news to other media outlets so that they too can include feminist perspectives in what they publish.

* Based in Argentina, but publishing articles from across Latin America, Latfem is a intersectional feminist media platform covering gender, class and racial inequalities.

* Pikara is an eight-year-old Basque magazine that has become a key reference point in the independent media landscape covering a range of cultural and social issues. It also focuses on communities under-represented by other media.

* For seven years, Revista Furias has published critical articles by, for and about Latin American women, trans and lesbians, deconstructing patriarchal societies.

* Ecuador’s first feminist magazine, La Periódica, is a more recent project. It launched last year to provide critical coverage on current affairs and other topics.

* On Mujeres en red, women experts on gender issues reflect on feminisms and share resources, from books to calls for protest marches and demonstrations.

Activistas feministas manifestándose en Madrid, España 2018. Foto: Gaudencio Garcinuño.CC S-A 2.0.

* Revista Mu is produced by the Argentinian organisation La Vaca. Each month, it looks in-depth at a different topic, from abortion rights to femicides, depending on ongoing political debates in the country.

* Revista Emancipa publishes articles from across Latin America. Their journalists describe it as a magazine to “show the point of view of feminists from the South of the world” and inspire social transformation.

* La Poderío is committed to representing Andalusian women – rural and worker women in Spain who have been consistently ignored by mainstream media.

* In Guatemala, the magazine La Cuerda represents the feelings and thoughts of women in that country, and presents feminist political proposals too.

* Afroféminas gives voice to Spanish-speaking black women. It deals with topics ranging from beauty to entrepreneurship, but always focusing on the needs and perspectives of black women, as well as reporting on discrimination against them.

* Rompiendo el silencio has been fighting for “the political visibility of lesbian and bisexual” women in Chile for more than a decade. Sentiido and Agencia Presentes are two other Latin American platforms focused on ending anti-LGBTI discrimination with content explaining personal experiences.

* Youthful Brazilian magazine AzMina publishes articles about intimate experiences, like how women see their vulvas, as well as reports on topics like racism.

* Malvestida from Mexico, covers beauty, fashion and lifestyle with an alternative, inclusive perspective. “We couldn’t find the magazine we wanted to read, so we made it,” is how they introduce themselves on Twitter.

* Volcánica, a section of the Guatemalan independent media platform Nómada, Spanish Lola (from platform Buzzfeed) and Brazilian Ovelha  cover topics from mainstream TV series to rape culture. They are like that good friend with whom you can share gossip and, at the same time, the issues that affect you most deeply.

“They are like that good friend with whom you can share gossip and, at the same time, the issues that affect you most deeply.”

* Onda Feminista is a feminist news blog founded in Venezuela with a section specifically focused on women entrepreneurs.

* Another blog from Brazil, Lado M, tells the stories of diverse women and writes about the feminist (or not) characters of popular films, TV series or books.

* Cientistas Feministas (from Brazil) and Economía Feminista (Argentina), publish writing from women experts in economics, science and health to make these subjects more accessible and analyse how women are affected by, for example, economic inequalities or health research priorities.

* Last (but not least) is not a website, but a podcast series from Spain. Sangre Fucsia covers women’s history and other topics related to culture and feminist activism.

Its creators are also known for “Feminismos Reunidos”, a trivia game about women’s contributions throughout history that raised more than €70,000 (17 times the budget they needed) through a hugely popular crowdfunding campaign.

What would you add to this list? Share your suggestions in the comment thread below, or on Twitter @5050oD.