In 2008, four women in Berlin decided that German feminism needed a magazine that didn't make its readers feel like they were attending a seminar. Sonja Eismann, a cultural studies scholar and author of the book Hot Topic: Popfeminismus heute, joined forces with Stefanie Lohaus, Margarita Tsomou, and Chris Kopplin to create Missy Magazine — a quarterly publication that combined feminist politics with pop culture, music, art, and literature in a tone that was sharp, funny, and completely allergic to sanctimony. The name was a deliberate provocation: "Missy" evokes both empowerment and condescension, and the magazine has always operated in the productive tension between the two.
The timing was not accidental. The late 2000s in Germany saw a renewed interest in feminist discourse, but the existing publications were either academic journals that spoke only to the already converted or mainstream women's magazines that treated feminism as a lifestyle brand. Missy carved out the space between: a publication with genuine political convictions and genuine cultural literacy, where an essay on reproductive rights could sit alongside a review of the latest queer cinema, a hip-hop column next to an interview about body politics, and nobody felt the need to apologize for the juxtaposition.
Published quarterly from Berlin with a distinctive cover design and a roster of contributors that reflects the magazine's commitment to intersectional diversity, Missy has built a devoted readership across the German-speaking world. The editorial voice is unapologetically engaged but never preachy — a balance that is far harder to achieve than it sounds, and that distinguishes Missy from both the earnest activism of earlier feminist publications and the commodified girl-power of mainstream women's media. The taz called it an essential voice in German lesbian and feminist publishing.
Over fifteen years and more than sixty issues, Missy Magazine has proven that feminist media can be politically serious, culturally omnivorous, and genuinely entertaining at the same time. For readers who want their feminism with punk energy, cultural literacy, and a sense of humor that never undermines the seriousness of the project, Missy is the publication that proves you don't have to choose between thinking hard and having fun.
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