Methedology

Chronologically, issue analysis would start either from 1975 or the earliest possible publishing date and ended by 1996. This was done in order to both alleviate workload and also capture a snapshot of a pre-Internet set of communities in a time of political and social repression. For each magazine, newsletter, or conference pamphlet ten issues would be read across a swath of the publication timeline. In particular, anniversary or inaugural issues were prioritized due to the reflective nature of both giving greater insight into the publications structure and culture. For larger works like Lady Like or F.M.I I would do a mechanical search through the issue for terms such as: femme, femininity, fashion, passing (and variations therein). For non-specific words, I would also make use of positive words including: best, ideal, fit, perfect. The later chosen in order to capture what was held to be values deemed important in clothes and other goods.