Debbie Stoller
Debbie Stoller has been hailed as a pioneer of “girlie feminism” for reviving interest in traditionally feminine activities like knitting through Bust and Stitch ‘n Bitch. Stoller earned a PhD in the psychology of women from Yale in the 1980s and moved to New York, where in 1993 she co-founded Bust, a stapled zine that grew into a glossy magazine that reexamines and embraces vintage fashion and crafts through the lens of third-wave feminism. The magazine uses humor and a sense of play to argue that feminism doesn’t require rejecting traditional femininity; feminism offers women the choice to reject or embrace fashion and crafts on their own terms. In 1999 she cofounded Stich ‘n Bitch, a knitting group that began in New York’s East Village and quickly spun off into groups across the country and internationally, with annual events in Rotterdam and London. In 1999, Stoller published her first book, The Bust Guide to the New Girl Order, and has followed this with numerous Stitch ‘n Bitch books, most recently Stitch ‘n Bitch Advanced in 2010.