Professor Angela Smith has edited a collection of essays about Spare Rib,
one of the most iconic symbols of Second Wave Feminism, whose influence
has far out-lived the span of its publication (1972-1993). Re-Reading Spare Rib (Palgrave Macmillan 2017) examines various aspects of the magazine - based on the digitised publication by the British Library
in 2015 - in order to explore the ways in which it has influenced
society in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, as well as the
lives of individual readers. By analysing several articles from a
modern, post-feminist perspective, and using cross-generational
interviews of Spare Rib readers and reflective accounts of
reading the publication, the significance and endurance of the
publication is demonstrated. Written by academics, experienced
researchers and independent scholars alike, the inter-disciplinary
nature of the text results in a multi-dimensional reading of Spare Rib suitable for both an academic and general readership interested in cultural and media studies.
In addition to Angela, two other members of the School of Culture have contributed chapters: Dr Kath Kerr-Koch, and PhD student Maria Fotiadou. Other Sunderland contributions come from Professor Catherine Donovan, Professor Donna Chambers, Professor Bridget Cooper, Dr Sheila Quaid, Dr Rob Worrall, Dr Paul-Alan Armstrong, Trish Bryans, and Helen Fraser.
