“SHOTA” and the feminist struggle

“Shota” is an online progressive and intersectional feminist magazine, published twice per year. It was brought to life at the beginning of 2021 by feminist activists Gresa Hasa and Liri Kuçi.

SHOTA

This magazine serves as a safe space where issues of social and political importance are deconstructed from a feminist perspective. It includes voices from a wide range of citizens, especially Roma and Egyptian women, LGBTQ+ women; feminist scholars or working and unemployed women as well; each of them enriching the diverse world of the magazine and thus making a valuable contribution to the public discussions that “Shota” helps initiate.

In patriarchal contexts, like the one in Albania, the public space is monopolized by men. They speak and make decisions for the rest of the society, including women. Moreover, historically, the majority of publications and magazines that pretended to speak of gender equality and women’s rights were anything but feminist. Their either came as the result of the top down state’s propaganda on gender equality during Enver Hoxha’s 45 years of stalinist dictatorship or later, in the ‘90s, they tried to imitate Western fashion magazines, not any less problematic and patriarchal in their discourse.

“Shota” has broken into this reality and is trying to change it step by step. The magazine is conceptualized in a thematic way, where every issue bears an umbrella theme which is then dismantled into five specific sections:

1) “Çati” (“Rooftop”) which itself is divided into the subsections:

  1. “Analizë Teorike” (“Theoretical Analysis”)
  2. “Fjalorth” (“Feminist Glossary”)
  3. “Përkthime” (“Translations”)

This section of the magazine intends to provide a feminist theoretical reading and analysis of the reality in the Albanian language by scholars, researchers, professors and academics. In the meantime, it provides an Albanian glossary where basic words related to gender and sexuality are given a feminist explanation with the aim to enrich our understanding of ourselves and the world around us and also, broaden our communication by providing the just instruments to identify ourselves, our needs and desires.
The translated pieces serve as an extra backup of information to the above subsections where renowned feminist authors are brought to attention with the aim of expanding the reader’s knowledge of feminist authors and theories.

2) “Përsiatje” (“Thread”) is another section divided into four subsections:

  1. “Opinione” (“Opinion Pieces”)
  2. “Reportazhe” (“Reportages”)
  3. “Pikëtakime” (“Meeting Points”)
  4. “Gjyzlykët feministë”  (“Feminist Glasses”)

“Thread” provides opinion pieces from feminist, LGBTQ+, Roma and Egyptian activists; engaged citizens etc. on current social, political and cultural issues while the “Reportages” subsection targets journalistic investigations in the area of gender and sexuality. It also investigates issues from a feminist viewpoint.

On the other hand, “Meeting Points” is a space dedicated to interactive communication and interviews with different voices who help to further tackle the issues that are covered under the umbrella theme of the magazine in its respective numbers. Last but not least, the “Feminist Glasses” aims to provide a feminist gaze into current matters. This subsection intends to be further developed into one where visual arts like films, exhibitions etc. but also TV shows and other media content is gazed at and reviewed from a female perspective.

“Gjurmë” (“Traces”) is a section dedicated to the life and work of all the women that have contributed in the history of Albania be it artists, intellectuals, workers, partisan fighters etc. Every story is brought to the surface through the committed research work done in the state archive and in cooperation with researchers and academics of different fields of studies.

“Krijimtari” (“Composition”) is a section dedicated to feminist literature: poems and proses written by women, men and non-binary individuals, some known and others unknown for their literary pieces; some writers and poets and others still experimenting in the field. “Shota” considers art and literature another means of expression. That is why since the beginning it aimed to provide this space to all those who can better express themselves through rhymes and poetic verses. 

“Beyond Borders” is the only English category of “Shota” which aims to break nationalist walls and build bridges with regional and international feminist activists. The idea is to have a constant exchange with others committed to the same struggle and find ways to stand in solidarity together.

Every issue that is published online is also followed by active public discussions and grassroots work especially with university students with the intention to bring more young adults close to our work and common struggle. Despite being only one year old, “Shota” is working around the clock to further grow also into the printed version and thus become more accessible by being distributed in different public libraries in the country. “Shota”’s feminism aims to reach 99% of the women in the country, from the margins to the center.