Until September 11th 2005, I had the pleasure of working at my local independent feminist bookstore in Vancouver, BC. I walked in to Women In Print fresh out of a job environment that was sexist and hostile to feminism to say the least. I immediately felt at home at Women In Print – not just because the co-owners welcomed me and made me feel completely at ease, but because it was refreshing to be in a space where being myself was okay and encouraged. In the six years that I worked at Women In Print I made many great friends. I now count co-owners Louise Hager and Carol Dale as two of my closest friends. I could not imagine the last six years without their love, support, encouragement and friendship. I have also had the pleasure of a number of wonderful co-workers, most of whom have remained in my life as friends, even when they have moved on to other endeavours. The customers also became a part of my regular life, some of them visiting once a week for as long as I was there, sharing stories about their families, filling me in on their lives, asking for advice, sharing book suggestions and asking for my help to choose the next book that would fill their lives with joy. Women In Print had been my haven for six years while I struggled through graduate school, first completing an MA and now nearing the end of a Ph.D.. Despite the pressures of grad school life, courses, teaching assistantships, research work and, now, working as a lecturer, I never once thought about quitting the bookstore. I simply couldn’t have survived without this wonderful, woman-centred, literary and feminist space to escape to.

So, it is with a heavy heart that I write that Women In Print closed her doors in September 2005 after 12 years. I am heartbroken that my favourite bookstore will no longer be there. I feel very sad that the last women’s bookstore in British Columbia has closed. And, I feel angry that, while we had a large amount of regular and loyal supporters, most people don’t feel the need to support a feminist bookstore and don’t understand its purpose. As Louise and Carol said in their letter to our customers announcing our closing – when Women In Print opened 12 years ago there was still a thriving feminist community in Vancouver. Now, supporters of feminist enterprises, and those still struggling with feminist organizations and businesses, are few and far between. Our resources are stretched to their fullest, our energy is sapped and our morale is low. While we still think it’s worth it – we simply can’t make it work if the average person sees us but keeps walking on by. Feminism is becoming part of our culture’s visible invisibility – you know it’s there but you don’t really understand why – so you choose to ignore it. The perception that feminism is no longer necessary or valuable is one that makes me angry and so disappointed – it is part of the reason that Women In Print closed, it is part of the reason that there are only a few feminist publishers left, it is part of the reason that feminist jobs are hard to find and that my Ph.D. in Women’s Studies may not be worth much in the long run, it is part of the reason that there are only a handful of women’s bookstores in North America.

I realize that I’m preaching to the converted. If you are reading this in thirdspace then you are well aware that feminism is alive and kicking. But, how do we tell the rest of the world? I am sick of reading articles in Salon and other magazines that talk about the F-Word, suggest that women are afraid of calling ourselves feminist, and calling for a name-change for the movement. Are you kidding? It’s not about language – calling it the “humanist movement,” as one critic suggested, is not going to make more women fight for choice or shop in their local women’s bookstore. How do we get women, especially young women, to understand that being feminist is not something to be ashamed of and that, most likely, they believe in things and fight for things that are, in fact, feminist? And, if they can’t get on board with calling themselves feminist then at least we can help them to acknowledge that supporting women’s organizations and believing in political and social equality for women is not a bad thing. In fact, recognizing this is the only thing that will keep feminist organizations alive.

But the lack of interest in feminism is not the only reason that stores like Women In Print cannot survive. Our non-feminist world is also a world where our choices are becoming more and more limited. Big-box bookstores are an example. In Canada we have Chapters/Indigo – originally 2 bookstores merged into one and now a place where books are somewhere on the fourth floor past the candles, the cards, the cushions, the yoga mats, and the multiple Starbucks coffee carts (don’t even get me started on Starbucks!).

I will admit that I was once a Chapters club card carrier. I love books and reading and can spend endless hours wandering through bookstores discovering new authors and rediscovering old favourites. I used to frequent the many small bookstores that were once all over Vancouver – but as the small stores began disappearing, up popped Chapters, close to work with the promise of endless hours of reading. As a book lover it seemed inconceivable to me that I would not spend time there – the lure of all those books was too much to bear. I was not even drawn by the supposed “deals” but, before long, I found myself stopping by there once or twice a week with my members card in my pocket. I still frequented small bookstores, but noticed that my choices to shop outside of Chapters were becoming fewer and fewer. And, at the same time, I noticed something else – despite the increasing size of Chapters, there seemed to be fewer books to choose from and I found myself having to search and search for something to interest me. It seems crazy that an ever-expanding bookstore would provide fewer books for me to fall in love with but it’s true. I would go in and wander around, have to go through 3 floors to find fiction and end up with nothing. Everything looks the same, there are tables and tables telling me what to buy, all from mainstream publishers, but somehow nothing appealed to me. And, then, I found Women In Print. I began working there in May of 1999 and from the second that I walked through the door I felt like I was home. I was also an immediate convert to independents and my Chapters card was history.

I’m not proud of the whole Chapters phase in my life and I also feel angry that I gave in to the lure and the marketing ploys that they produced. Now that Women In Print has closed, I feel even sadder that we couldn’t survive but that a store like Chapters/Indigo thrives. Part of the problem with big-box chain stores is that they sell us convenience over substance. Since when did shopping for books become like stopping at 7-11 for a carton of milk? We are constantly told that we don’t have time and that having everything in one place is the way to go. Browsing is not necessary because you are told what to buy when you walk in – the bestsellers are all there, numbered for your convenience, product-placed by large publishers with deep pockets, and pushed on you without a fight. Where are the small publishers, the local authors? Where will I find a new and intriguing collection of poetry by a little-known local writer? Where can I get some advice on what to buy for my brother’s fiancee's mother who likes mysteries that are psychological but not gruesome, scary but not predictable? How will I find out about that book with the red cover that has something to do with bees when I can’t remember the author or the title? If I like a certain author, how will I find someone just as compelling? The answer? Go to your local independent bookstore – if you still have one! Independents are not just about hand-selling, they are about choice and the freedom to discover something that may change your life. I find it so offensive that big stores that claim to have everything really offer fewer choices than the small store next door. And I can’t understand why people are buying in to it. Pretty soon we won’t have any choices left – we will only be able to shop at Wal-Mart, all coffee will be from Starbucks, all of our entertainment will come from Disney, and one day soon they will all be under the same roof. Is that extra 10% off the new Harry Potter really worth it? Are we really in that much of a hurry?

The final weekend at Women In Print was bittersweet. On the one hand, I was overwhelmed by the number of people who came in to wish us well and express their gratitude for a store like Women In Print and their grief that it was closing. As people streamed through the doors for our final sale, I felt very sad that many of our customers would likely never have a bookstore experience like this again, perhaps even read fewer books because we were gone. But, as these same people came up to the counter, their arms loaded with books saying how sorry they were, part of me wanted to scream at them: “Where have you been?” “Why weren’t you more supportive?” For so many people, feminists included, being a feminist bookstore means that Women In Print was a specialty bookstore first and foremost, only there for certain things. We might be your first stop for some obscure feminist theory but we are not your first stop for the new Margaret Atwood – yet we carried both. It doesn’t occur to many people to make us their local store, their first stop for all their books – and, yet, for many other customers, it would not occur to them to go anywhere else. As a feminist, I support my women’s bookstore regardless of what I am buying. If it’s not in stock, I order it. For so many years, I would find a book for a customer and they would be amazed saying, “I’ve looked everywhere for this.” It’s frustrating that it didn’t occur to people to try us first. Instead, we were the last resort and our “postfeminist” culture encourages this kind of visible invisibility – it’s not like we’re a wizarding world of feminism where the Vancouver muggles have to tap on a secret wall and quote Gloria Steinem before the magical veil is lifted. We were right there all along – people were just subtly and silently encouraged not to see.

One of our bookmarks at Women In Print had a quote by Emily Dickinson: “There is no Frigate like a Book / To take us Lands away.” Women In Print was the land I loved the most – my love of books took me there and the love, admiration, and gratitude I have for Louise and Carol guarantees that it is a place that I would sail to anytime and is the place that I will remember every time I open a book. For those of you who had the pleasure of spending time at Women In Print, you will know what a treasure it was. For the rest of you, I urge you to dump your yoga mats, put down your Starbucks, leave the postfeminist section behind and head to your nearest independent bookstore – you won’t regret it, it may even change your life.

You can read Louise and Carol’s letter about the closing of Women In Print at http://www.womeninprint.ca/about/index.html.

See thirdspace's (non-exhuastive!) list of feminist bookstores worldwide that offer online services - and let us know of any we've missed.

	The End of Women in Print, Vancouver
	Kim Snowden
	There is no Frigate like a Book To take us Lands away -- Emily Dickinson Until September 11th 2005, I had the pleasure of working at my local independent feminist bookstore in Vancouver, BC. I walked in to Women In Print fresh out of a job environment that was sexist and hostile to feminism to say the least. I immediately felt at home at Women In Print – not just because the co-owners welcomed me and made me feel completely at ease, but because it was refreshing to be in a space where being myself was okay and encouraged. In the six years that I worked at Women In Print I made many great friends. I now count co-owners Louise Hager and Carol Dale as two of my closest friends. I could not imagine the last six years without their love, support, encouragement and friendship. I have also had the pleasure of a number of wonderful co-workers, most of whom have remained in my life as friends, even when they have moved on to other endeavours. The customers also became a part of my regular life, some of them visiting once a week for as long as I was there, sharing stories about their families, filling me in on their lives, asking for advice, sharing book suggestions and asking for my help to choose the next book that would fill their lives with joy. Women In Print had been my haven for six years while I struggled through graduate school, first completing an MA and now nearing the end of a Ph.D.. Despite the pressures of grad school life, courses, teaching assistantships, research work and, now, working as a lecturer, I never once thought about quitting the bookstore. I simply couldn’t have survived without this wonderful, woman-centred, literary and feminist space to escape to. So, it is with a heavy heart that I write that Women In Print closed her doors in September 2005 after 12 years. I am heartbroken that my favourite bookstore will no longer be there. I feel very sad that the last women’s bookstore in British Columbia has closed. And, I feel angry that, while we had a large amount of regular and loyal supporters, most people don’t feel the need to support a feminist bookstore and don’t understand its purpose. As Louise and Carol said in their letter to our customers announcing our closing – when Women In Print opened 12 years ago there was still a thriving feminist community in Vancouver. Now, supporters of feminist enterprises, and those still struggling with feminist organizations and businesses, are few and far between. Our resources are stretched to their fullest, our energy is sapped and our morale is low. While we still think it’s worth it – we simply can’t make it work if the average person sees us but keeps walking on by. Feminism is becoming part of our culture’s visible invisibility – you know it’s there but you don’t really understand why – so you choose to ignore it. The perception that feminism is no longer necessary or valuable is one that makes me angry and so disappointed – it is part of the reason that Women In Print closed, it is part of the reason that there are only a few feminist publishers left, it is part of the reason that feminist jobs are hard to find and that my Ph.D. in Women’s Studies may not be worth much in the long run, it is part of the reason that there are only a handful of women’s bookstores in North America. I realize that I’m preaching to the converted. If you are reading this in thirdspace then you are well aware that feminism is alive and kicking. But, how do we tell the rest of the world? I am sick of reading articles in Salon and other magazines that talk about the F-Word, suggest that women are afraid of calling ourselves feminist, and calling for a name-change for the movement. Are you kidding? It’s not about language – calling it the “humanist movement,” as one critic suggested, is not going to make more women fight for choice or shop in their local women’s bookstore. How do we get women, especially young women, to understand that being feminist is not something to be ashamed of and that, most likely, they believe in things and fight for things that are, in fact, feminist? And, if they can’t get on board with calling themselves feminist then at least we can help them to acknowledge that supporting women’s organizations and believing in political and social equality for women is not a bad thing. In fact, recognizing this is the only thing that will keep feminist organizations alive. But the lack of interest in feminism is not the only reason that stores like Women In Print cannot survive. Our non-feminist world is also a world where our choices are becoming more and more limited. Big-box bookstores are an example. In Canada we have Chapters/Indigo – originally 2 bookstores merged into one and now a place where books are somewhere on the fourth floor past the candles, the cards, the cushions, the yoga mats, and the multiple Starbucks coffee carts (don’t even get me started on Starbucks!). I will admit that I was once a Chapters club card carrier. I love books and reading and can spend endless hours wandering through bookstores discovering new authors and rediscovering old favourites. I used to frequent the many small bookstores that were once all over Vancouver – but as the small stores began disappearing, up popped Chapters, close to work with the promise of endless hours of reading. As a book lover it seemed inconceivable to me that I would not spend time there – the lure of all those books was too much to bear. I was not even drawn by the supposed “deals” but, before long, I found myself stopping by there once or twice a week with my members card in my pocket. I still frequented small bookstores, but noticed that my choices to shop outside of Chapters were becoming fewer and fewer. And, at the same time, I noticed something else – despite the increasing size of Chapters, there seemed to be fewer books to choose from and I found myself having to search and search for something to interest me. It seems crazy that an ever-expanding bookstore would provide fewer books for me to fall in love with but it’s true. I would go in and wander around, have to go through 3 floors to find fiction and end up with nothing. Everything looks the same, there are tables and tables telling me what to buy, all from mainstream publishers, but somehow nothing appealed to me. And, then, I found Women In Print. I began working there in May of 1999 and from the second that I walked through the door I felt like I was home. I was also an immediate convert to independents and my Chapters card was history. I’m not proud of the whole Chapters phase in my life and I also feel angry that I gave in to the lure and the marketing ploys that they produced. Now that Women In Print has closed, I feel even sadder that we couldn’t survive but that a store like Chapters/Indigo thrives. Part of the problem with big-box chain stores is that they sell us convenience over substance. Since when did shopping for books become like stopping at 7-11 for a carton of milk? We are constantly told that we don’t have time and that having everything in one place is the way to go. Browsing is not necessary because you are told what to buy when you walk in – the bestsellers are all there, numbered for your convenience, product-placed by large publishers with deep pockets, and pushed on you without a fight. Where are the small publishers, the local authors? Where will I find a new and intriguing collection of poetry by a little-known local writer? Where can I get some advice on what to buy for my brother’s fiancee's mother who likes mysteries that are psychological but not gruesome, scary but not predictable? How will I find out about that book with the red cover that has something to do with bees when I can’t remember the author or the title? If I like a certain author, how will I find someone just as compelling? The answer? Go to your local independent bookstore – if you still have one! Independents are not just about hand-selling, they are about choice and the freedom to discover something that may change your life. I find it so offensive that big stores that claim to have everything really offer fewer choices than the small store next door. And I can’t understand why people are buying in to it. Pretty soon we won’t have any choices left – we will only be able to shop at Wal-Mart, all coffee will be from Starbucks, all of our entertainment will come from Disney, and one day soon they will all be under the same roof. Is that extra 10% off the new Harry Potter really worth it? Are we really in that much of a hurry? The final weekend at Women In Print was bittersweet. On the one hand, I was overwhelmed by the number of people who came in to wish us well and express their gratitude for a store like Women In Print and their grief that it was closing. As people streamed through the doors for our final sale, I felt very sad that many of our customers would likely never have a bookstore experience like this again, perhaps even read fewer books because we were gone. But, as these same people came up to the counter, their arms loaded with books saying how sorry they were, part of me wanted to scream at them: “Where have you been?” “Why weren’t you more supportive?” For so many people, feminists included, being a feminist bookstore means that Women In Print was a specialty bookstore first and foremost, only there for certain things. We might be your first stop for some obscure feminist theory but we are not your first stop for the new Margaret Atwood – yet we carried both. It doesn’t occur to many people to make us their local store, their first stop for all their books – and, yet, for many other customers, it would not occur to them to go anywhere else. As a feminist, I support my women’s bookstore regardless of what I am buying. If it’s not in stock, I order it. For so many years, I would find a book for a customer and they would be amazed saying, “I’ve looked everywhere for this.” It’s frustrating that it didn’t occur to people to try us first. Instead, we were the last resort and our “postfeminist” culture encourages this kind of visible invisibility – it’s not like we’re a wizarding world of feminism where the Vancouver muggles have to tap on a secret wall and quote Gloria Steinem before the magical veil is lifted. We were right there all along – people were just subtly and silently encouraged not to see. One of our bookmarks at Women In Print had a quote by Emily Dickinson: “There is no Frigate like a Book / To take us Lands away.” Women In Print was the land I loved the most – my love of books took me there and the love, admiration, and gratitude I have for Louise and Carol guarantees that it is a place that I would sail to anytime and is the place that I will remember every time I open a book. For those of you who had the pleasure of spending time at Women In Print, you will know what a treasure it was. For the rest of you, I urge you to dump your yoga mats, put down your Starbucks, leave the postfeminist section behind and head to your nearest independent bookstore – you won’t regret it, it may even change your life. You can read Louise and Carol’s letter about the closing of Women In Print at http://www.womeninprint.ca/about/index.html. See thirdspace's (non-exhuastive!) list of feminist bookstores worldwide that offer online services - and let us know of any we've missed.