The masthead of The Moon, a feminist newspaper: beneath the title, John Berger’s words — Women watch themselves being looked at — followed by a line drawing and dense columns of critical writing

Publishing

The Moon

2009

The Moon was a feminist free ‘newspaper’ ironically named in response to the best-selling tabloid in the UK, whilst also referencing the feminist fascination with the moon as symbolic of feminine energy. Published to coincide with the Once More with Feeling event curated by performance artist Oriana Fox, held at Tate Modern on 27 June 2009.

The Moon is a parallel artwork that both documents this event and extends its themes. The Moon is also a performance tool — women can open its tabloid-size pages on buses and tubes or any public place where they see a man reading The Sun with page 3 visible. Page 3 of The Moon will have a large and playfully knowing picture of a nude man.

The Moon features four main essays

  • Catherine Grant’s essay on ‘fans of feminism’
  • Judith Batalion critical and humorous exposé on ‘fighting feminists’
  • An art historical examination of early performance work from Judy Chicago’s Feminist Art Program by Meredith Brown
  • Marianne Mulvey’s text about the use of sincerity and cliché in contemporary performance

Also included: A timeline of feminist performance art; Maureen Paley on the significance of the moon to women and feminism; information about performances that rework feminist classics.