Cuntalope Zine Issue 3

This issue’s theme is ‘bad habits’. The conception of such a theme came to us somewhat randomly – initially, we were simply enchanted by the image of a badass, Thelma and Louise-type woman fronting the world with her non-conformity. With time, however, and reflection on the works of the ten other women involved in this issue, ‘bad habits’ came to resonate with us much more profoundly, and personally. We wonder if it is perhaps our womanhood that is intrinsically linked to the bad habits we identify in ourselves. Indeed, one of the women in this issue wrote of her work in relation to passivity as her bad habit:
I realised that one of the bad habits I have is allowing people
to manipulate me, often through guilt. I don’t know if this springs from being a woman or if I have an innate passivity to my nature, but I suppose it really is a bit of both.
Another spoke specifically of her habit of taking baths – a form of indulgence:
My ‘bad habit’, is not necessarily bad, but it is pretty indulgent and hedonistic.
The works in this issue move far beyond stereotypes to explore, with rich and tender complexity, the many varied interpretations of this theme. Contributors to this issue have focused on ‘bad habits’ with reference to the intricacies of both platonic and romantic relationships, creative potential and inspiration, the cultivation of image-based identity through social media, and the act of breaking a bad habit, and whatever result this may have.
We feel ‘bad habits’ could not be a more pertinent motif for this third instalment of Cuntalope, and we hope you enjoy.

Olivia du Vergier, Sofia Skobeleva & Maddie Symons