Feminist Ca

Mothers of the Revolution \ 91
original intention of playing a trick on a group of male fans. Nevertheless,
much of the material in Femizine, and the reaction to this
all-female venture, still provides evidence for a desire among fans to
recognize some form of commonality between the women scattered
through fandom, and to achieve greater recognition for their contributions
to fandom. Indeed, in the first issue, Carr notes that Evans
and Lindsay were “really the originators of the idea” of a fanzine for
women (following the model of the all-female Femzine in the US)
(Warner Jr. 1977: 89-90) and that the contributions from other women
such as Ina Shorrock showed “that there is a genuine need for FEM-
IZINE” (Carr 1954: 18).
In May 1956, Carr’s true identity was revealed in the ninth issue
of Femizine — the “hoax issue” — which contained extended commentaries
and reminiscences from those involved. Evans and Lindsay,
the two co-conspirators, wrote of their role in the hoax and detailed
their increasing misgivings about Joan’s role in Femizine. Their discomfort
was caused by the whole-hearted acceptance not just of this
“fake female,” but also of Femizine itself, which was so “wildly successful
that it drew up to 100 locs [letters of comment] per issue”
(Warner Jr. 1977: 90). When, for example, the second issue drew an
unfavorable review, Lindsay recalled that,
the other femme fans rallied to our side, and defended us
stoutly. They did all they could to help, and began to take a
real pride in FEZ. That was when my troubles really started.
I had been thinking of Joan as a separate personality…
However, I began to wake up to the fact that I could not
expect the rest of fandom to feel the same way. I began to
worry what they would say when the news came out. At the
same time so did Frances, who asked me if I ever woke up in
a cold sweat thinking about it. I did. (Lindsay 1956: 10)
By 1955, as Hansen notes, “Evans and Lindsay were becoming increasingly
uneasy about the lie at the heart of Femizine, that a fanzine
that had become a rallying point for Britain’s female fans was
secretly edited by a man.” They decided to try and alleviate the situation
by suggesting that Femizine be opened to male contributors, and
discussed this with other female fans at the 1955 national convention
(“Cytricon” held in Kettering, from then on held over Easter) But, as
Lindsay recalled: