Milquetoast

Milquetoast is a minizine by Jeffery Kennedy, published in San Francisco, California, U.S.A.

Published in the 1990's, this zine was a one-sheet folded zine that continued Jeffery Kennedy's musings on what it means to be a 'milquetoast' that he had begun when he recorded the song "Milquetoast Brigade" with Tobi Vail and Calvin Johnson's band The Go Team in 1989. It is a cut and paste, collage zine in which the juxtaposition of unrelated texts and images leads to new meanings and ways of looking at the world.

Issue one included covers of 1950's 'beefcake' magazines side by side with 1960's Scooter comics, beauty tips, old photos of male gynecologists, cartoons portraying stereotypical male behaviour, and a formerly female javelin thrower who has been officially pronounced a male.

Milquetoast Issue two is devoted to early 1900's lithographed illustrations of life at an all boys English private school.

Issue three combines images of men from muscle magazines and anatomical closeups of genitalia with quotes such as this one from Jack Litewka; "The only non-partisan reason I can think of for my aversion to homosexuality is that most homosexuals I have known have not transcended the sexual roles we are all damaged by"; all of which lead to a destabilizing of gender and gender roles and stereotypes, making room for the milquetoast of both genders.

Jeffery Kennedy also published Boysville U.S.A. and Campfire.