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Answer Me!
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Answer Me!
EditorJim Goad
Debbie Goad
CategoriesSocial pathology
FrequencyAnnual
Circulation13,000
PublisherJim Goad
Debbie Goad
First issue1991
Final issue1994
CountryUnited States of America
Based inLos Angeles
LanguageEnglish

Answer Me! (typically rendered ANSWER Me!) was a magazine edited by Jim Goad and Debbie Goad and published between 1991 and 1994. It focused on the social pathologies of interest to the Los Angeles–based couple.

Answer Me! also featured illustrations by racist antisemitic cartoonist[1][2] Nick Bougas.[3]

Issue 4 of Answer Me! was the subject of a high-profile obscenity trial against two booksellers whose magazine store carried the issue.

Issues

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Issue No. 1

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Released 31 October 1991.

Featured interviews with Russ Meyer, Timothy Leary, Holly Woodlawn, Kid Frost, Public Enemy, Iceberg Slim, and pieces on Bakersfield, California, Sunset Boulevard, masturbation in literature, and Twelve-Step programs.

Issue No. 2

[edit]

Released 17 July 1992.

Featured Anton LaVey, David Duke, Al Goldstein, El Duce of The Mentors, the Geto Boys, Ray Dennis Steckler, 100 serial killers and mass murderers, Vietnamese gangs, and Mexican murder magazines.

Issue No. 3

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Released 19 July 1993.

Featured Jack Kevorkian, Al Sharpton, NAMBLA, the Kids of Widney High, Boyd Rice, Suzanne Muldowney, 100 suicides, guns, Andrei Chikatilo, pedophilia in Steven Spielberg's work, Mexican deformity comics[clarification needed], paintings and drawings by murderers, and a prank call to a suicide hotline.

Issue No. 4

[edit]

Released 1994.

Known as "The Rape Issue", features a teen-mag-style interview with Richard Ramirez, Donny the Punk, work by Molly Kiely, Boyd Rice, Randall Phillip, Shaun Partridge, Adam Parfrey (on Andrea Dworkin), Peter Sotos (with illustrations by Trevor Brown), pieces on amputation, the police, racist country & western music, and Chocolate Impulse.

The book

[edit]

The first three issues were released in a collection with autobiographical introductory pieces by Debbie and Jim. It was first published as Answer Me!: The First Three (ISBN 1-873176-03-1) by AK Press.

It was reissued, along with 60 pages of new material, by Scapegoat Publishing (ISBN 0-9764035-3-6) in 2006.

According to Jim Goad's website as of 2012, a collection of issues #1–4 "will be reprinted this year."[4]

Controversy

[edit]

In 1995, a complaint about issue no. 4 being sold at a Bellingham, Washington magazine store known as The Newsstand resulted in owners Ira Stohl and Kristina Hjelsand being tried on charges of distribution of obscenity.[5] Charged with one felony count of promoting pornography, they faced a maximum sentence of five years in jail and a $10,000 fine. The defendants were found not guilty.[6][7] A later lawsuit against the City of Bellingham by Stohl and Hjelsand resulted in the City paying $1.3 million to the plaintiffs on the grounds of violation of First Amendment rights and infliction of emotional distress.[7][8]

Chocolate Impulse

[edit]

Chocolate Impulse was a "hoax zine" created by Jim and Debbie Goad, publishers of Answer Me!. Wanting to address the negative feedback they'd received from the zine community, the Goads wrote and distributed a pseudonymous screed against themselves (in which they claimed to be the lesbian couple "Valerie Chocolate" and "Faith Impulse"), going so far as to set up a fake address for it in Kentucky. The zine received some positive response from the publishers of Feminist Baseball and other zines that had negatively reviewed the Goads. In issue #4 of Answer Me!, Jim Goad revealed the prank and insulted those who had taken the bait.

References

[edit]
[edit]
Revisions and contributorsEdit on WikipediaRead on Wikipedia

Answer Me!

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from Grokipedia
Answer Me! was an American alternative magazine edited by and his wife Debbie Goad, published in , from 1991 to 1994. The publication consisted of four issues that featured essays, rants, interviews, and articles on transgressive topics including subcultures, sex, violence, murder, serial killers, , and critiques of mainstream American culture. Known for its raw, unfiltered style that challenged social taboos and norms, Answer Me! pushed the boundaries of underground zine publishing with a focus on hate, self-destruction, and societal hypocrisies. The magazine gained significant notoriety for its provocative content, particularly the fourth issue released in 1994, which centered on rape and included graphic imagery and explorations of the rapists' mindset to underscore the act's horrors. This led to widespread controversy, including obscenity charges against newsstand operators in Washington State for distributing the issue, framed by prosecutors as promoting pornography under state laws. Distributors faced pressure to cease sales, sparking a free speech battle defended by the ACLU, which argued the magazine constituted literary and political expression rather than obscenity. A Whatcom County jury acquitted the defendants in 1996 following a trial that highlighted tensions between community standards and First Amendment protections. Despite facing bans in several countries and domestic distribution challenges, Answer Me! influenced transgressive literature and culture by rejecting sanitized discourse in favor of direct confrontation with uncomfortable realities. Later compilations of its issues, including expanded editions with additional essays by , have preserved its legacy as a artifact of countercultural defiance, though it remains polarizing for its deliberate and refusal to moralize.

Origins and Editors

Founding and Early Production

Answer Me! was founded in 1991 by and his wife Debbie Goad in , , as a self-published aimed at exploring subjects through unfiltered essays, interviews, and . The couple established Goad to Hell Enterprises as the publishing imprint to handle production and distribution independently, reflecting the DIY ethos of the underground movement prevalent in the early 1990s. The inaugural issue, Volume 1 Number 1, was released in 1992 and centered on themes of American culture, including critiques of subcultures, music scenes, and social dysfunctions. Production involved low-cost methods typical of zines, such as stapled photocopied or offset-printed pages with bold, hand-drawn covers—front art by Jim Blanchard and back by in early editions—resulting in limited runs distributed via mail order and select alternative outlets. Debbie Goad assisted in editing and contributed to content selection, while guest appearances, such as from , added to the zine's raw, collaborative edge. Subsequent early issues maintained this format, with Issue No. 2 also dated 1992 under , expanding on misanthropic rants and explicit explorations that quickly garnered notoriety in punk and countercultural circles for their transgressive style. The Goads' hands-on approach ensured tight control over provocative material but constrained wider reach, relying on word-of-mouth and networks rather than commercial printers or mainstream advertising.

Jim and Debbie Goad's Roles

Jim Goad founded and primarily edited Answer Me!, serving as the magazine's chief architect, writer, and interviewer, where he produced editorials such as "The Underground is a Lie," investigative pieces like "Death in Bakersfield" (co-authored with Debbie Goad), and conversations with figures including and . His contributions extended to conceptual elements, including hoax zines like Chocolate Impulse and sections featuring prank calls, which underscored the publication's transgressive style. Debbie Goad functioned as co-editor and assistant, handling production aspects alongside writing duties that included acerbic rants such as "Babies are Dirty," "I Hate Women," and "He Tried to Fuck Me," as well as scripting prank calls to targets like and suicide hotlines. Her involvement emphasized personal, misanthropic perspectives that complemented Jim's broader critiques, with the couple jointly overseeing the zine's output under Goad to Hell Enterprises from their base in beginning in 1991. The Goads' collaborative dynamic, as a husband-and-wife team, infused Answer Me! with raw, unfiltered content drawn from their shared experiences, though Jim's vision dominated the editorial direction and volume of material. This partnership persisted across all four issues published between 1991 and 1994, prior to Debbie's death in 2000.

Publication Issues

Issue No. 1 (1992)

Issue No. 1 of Answer Me!, released in 1992 by editors and Debbie Goad under their imprint Goad to Hell Enterprises, served as the inaugural publication of the , establishing its signature style of raw, confrontational commentary on societal dysfunctions. Printed in a modest run typical of early underground zines, the issue centered on critiques of American culture, blending personal rants, cultural analysis, and boundary-pushing discussions that rejected mainstream pieties. Key content included explorations of subcultural fringes and psychological extremes, with articles delving into themes of alienation, hate, and human folly through a lens unfiltered by conventional moralizing. A notable feature was an interview with counterculture icon , whose psychedelic perspectives aligned with the zine's interest in challenging normative thought patterns. The publication's format emphasized dense, polemical prose over polished presentation, reflecting the Goads' DIY ethos and disdain for institutional gatekeeping in media. Reception among niche readers highlighted its unapologetic , positioning it as a to the era's burgeoning victim narratives and feel-good , though it drew immediate polarization for its refusal to soften edges in favor of ideological comfort. No major legal or widespread public controversies attached specifically to this debut issue, unlike later editions, allowing it to build a through word-of-mouth in punk and alternative circuits.

Issue No. 2 (1993)

Issue No. 2 of Answer Me!, published in 1993 by Jim and Debbie Goad under Goad to Hell Enterprises, expanded on the zine's confrontational style with a focus on fringe personalities, extreme subcultures, and pathological violence. Clocking in at approximately 100 pages, the issue featured lengthy interviews with provocative figures such as Church of Satan founder Anton LaVey, former Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke, Screw magazine publisher Al Goldstein, shock rock musician El Duce of The Mentors, the hip-hop group Geto Boys, and underground filmmaker Ray Dennis Steckler. These discussions delved into themes of rebellion, taboo-breaking, and cultural outsiders, reflecting the Goads' interest in unfiltered expressions of human extremity. A centerpiece was the extensive article "Night of a Hundred Mass-Murdering/Serial-Killing Stars," which profiled dozens of infamous , emphasizing patterns in their behaviors and societal reactions without endorsing or moralizing. This piece exemplified the zine's misanthropic lens, treating violence as a raw human impulse rather than a product of external victimhood narratives critiqued in prior issues. Additional essays, such as "The Wrath of Goad" by , offered personal rants against perceived hypocrisies in mainstream culture, aligning with the publication's broader rejection of politically sanitized discourse. The issue's content drew from punk, , and countercultural sources, maintaining a raw, DIY aesthetic with illustrations and collages to amplify its satirical edge. While not centered on a single theme like in Issue No. 1, it amplified the zine's exploration of hate, deviance, and voices, contributing to its reputation among niche audiences for challenging taboos on , race, and sexuality. Circulation remained limited, primarily through and networks, with the Goads handling production amid financial constraints.

Issue No. 3 (1993)

Issue No. 3 of Answer Me!, published in July 1993, centered on the theme of and adopted the zine's characteristic blend of dark humor, graphic illustrations, and irreverent commentary on taboo subjects. The issue spanned approximately 60 pages dedicated to explorations of self-inflicted death, eschewing conventional sensitivity in favor of cataloging methods and historical examples with a satirical edge. Edited by Jim and Debbie Goad, it featured contributions from underground figures including and artwork by Jim Blanchard, maintaining the publication's raw, photocopied aesthetic. The centerpiece article, "Killing Me Softly, Roughly, and Just About Every Other Fucking Way Imaginable: 100 Spectacular Suicides," compiled by and illustrated by , listed 100 historical and notorious cases, emphasizing elaborate or unusual methods such as , , and ingestion of household chemicals. introduced the piece by expressing a hope that it might inspire readers to "off yourself in style," framing not as tragedy but as a potential act of personal agency or absurdity, consistent with the zine's critique of maudlin cultural narratives around victimhood. Other content included an article on Russian , who confessed to 52 murders, illustrated by Marcel Dzama, linking themes of and self-destruction. Additional features profiled figures like , the pathologist advocating , and , alongside interviews or pieces involving , a band of developmentally disabled musicians, underscoring the issue's interest in fringe personalities and societal outliers. The content provoked by juxtaposing factual accounts with mocking asides, challenging readers' expectations of solemnity on topics and aligning with Answer Me!'s broader rejection of politically sanitized discourse. The issue drew controversy in 1995-1996 when linked to the suicides of three British men associated with neo-Nazi groups, one of whom had contacted requesting a copy shortly before their deaths; media reports alleged the article's detailed methods influenced the acts, though rejected claims of causation, attributing blame to pre-existing personal failures rather than the publication. This incident highlighted tensions between provocative journalism and perceived incitement, with outlets like scrutinizing but not substantiating direct responsibility, noting the men's prior interest in ideologies. Despite such backlash, the issue contributed to Answer Me!'s underground notoriety without facing legal repercussions akin to those later encountered by Issue No. 4.

Issue No. 4 (1994)

Issue No. 4 of Answer Me!, published in 1994, centered on the theme of , presenting graphic discussions of , personal accounts, and satirical critiques intended to challenge prevailing cultural narratives around victimhood and gender dynamics. The issue featured provocative imagery on its cover, depicting a with a alongside a labeled "RAPE!" in mustard and a name tag reading "HI! I ASKED FOR IT!", which underscored its confrontational style. Contributors included editors and Debbie Goad, as well as , Randall Phillips, Shaun Partridge, , , and comic artist Molly Kiely. Key articles explored personal experiences and societal analyses of and related . Jim Goad's "My Sick Mommy" detailed his alleged childhood by his mother, incorporating revenge fantasies to highlight themes of familial dysfunction and retribution. Debbie Goad contributed "He Tried to Fuck Me," recounting her purported childhood molestation and its psychological impacts. Jim Goad's "Let’s Hear it for Toward Women!" employed to mock contemporary discourses on , arguing that such rhetoric often exaggerated or distorted male-female interactions. "Rapeworld" cataloged real-world incidents by perpetrator motivations, victim circumstances, and outcomes, aiming to dissect patterns beyond standard ideological framings. An outlier piece, "Amputation Nation" by , shifted to discussions of amputees, prosthetics, and bodily modification, linking it loosely to themes of physical violation. Interviews added to the issue's notoriety, including a teen-magazine-style dialogue with serial killer titled "The Nice Stalker" and a profile of Stephen Donaldson, "The Punk Who Wouldn’t Shut Up," focusing on his experiences as a survivor and activist. The publication incorporated grainy medical and police photographs of and victims to substantiate its raw examinations. A standout feature was the enclosed cut-out "The Rape Game," a satirical insert simulating scenarios of to critique perceptions of and power imbalances. The issue's explicit content on , sexual , and prompted obscenity charges against booksellers in , for distributing it, though a Whatcom County jury acquitted newsstand owner Ira Stohl and manager Kristina Hjelsand of promoting on February 1, 1996. This legal scrutiny reflected broader tensions over free expression versus community standards in alternative publications during the early .

Core Themes and Style

Critiques of Victimhood Culture

Answer Me! critiqued by portraying it as a mechanism that elevates grievance-mongering over individual agency, fostering societal weakness and entitlement. The Goads contended that the surge in rewarded exaggerated claims of oppression, particularly among feminists and minorities, allowing claimants to evade personal fault while demanding restitution from perceived oppressors. specifically argued that this dynamic undermined both men and women by promoting helplessness; for instance, he highlighted how feminist emphasis on victimhood in domestic disputes ignored of reciprocal violence, as documented in police reports and victim testimonies showing women initiating assaults in up to 50% of heterosexual partner conflicts according to contemporaneous studies like those from the National Family Violence Surveys (1975–1985 data). This approach, Goad asserted, shifted cultural norms from dignity-based honor—where slights were resolved personally—to a safety-oriented victim reliant on institutional intervention. In Issue No. 4, the " Issue" published in 1994, these critiques intensified through compilations of , anonymous accounts, and satirical pieces questioning unidirectional narratives. The issue presented indicating that false accusations comprised 2–10% of reported rapes, per FBI analyses from the , and argued that portraying all women as innate victims obscured female sexual and male to instrumentalized claims. Goad's stance framed victimhood as a strategic ploy for moral leverage, citing principles where signaling weakness garners resources, but cautioned that over-reliance erodes resilience; he drew parallels to historical shifts from frontier to welfare-state dependency, evidenced by rising domestic shelter funding from $125 million in 1980 to over $300 million by 1994 under the precursors. Critics of the zine, including feminist outlets, dismissed these views as misogynistic apologias for abuse, yet Goad maintained they reflected unfiltered empirical realities suppressed by politically correct gatekeepers. Broader essays in earlier issues extended this to class-based victimhood, lambasting media amplification of elite-approved grievances while sidelining working-class white male plights, such as higher suicide rates (24.7 per 100,000 for white males aged 25–34 in 1990 CDC data versus lower rates for other demographics). The publication's provocative style—juxtaposing graphic imagery with analytical rants—aimed to jolt readers from complacent acceptance of victim orthodoxy, positing that true progress demands confronting causal behaviors rather than perpetual blame-shifting. This stance prefigured later sociological analyses, like those in The Rise of Victimhood Culture (2018), though Goad's work predated and lacked academic veneer, prioritizing raw confrontation over sanitized discourse.

Gender Dynamics and Male Perspectives

Answer Me! examined gender dynamics through provocative essays and data-driven analyses that challenged feminist emphases on victimhood, arguing instead that societal structures often exacerbate vulnerabilities while dismissing them as normative. The zine contended that modern discourse promotes a zero-sum blame culture, where grievances are amplified but disenfranchisement—such as in family courts, where men face biased custody outcomes—is minimized or invalidated. This perspective drew from empirical disparities, including men's overrepresentation in (estimated at 60-70% in U.S. populations during the ) and incarceration, positing these as symptoms of unaddressed male disposability rather than inherent male failing. A core focus was suicide, explored extensively in issue #2 (1993), which highlighted statistics showing accounting for the highest rates—around 70-80% of U.S. suicides in the era—linking this to rigid expectations of and emotional suppression imposed on men. The publication critiqued how feminist-influenced narratives overlooked these figures, instead framing imbalances as predominantly patriarchal , and included personal accounts and cultural critiques to argue that pathologizing ignores adaptive responses to perceived . Similarly, content addressed experiences of , a topic rarely discussed in mainstream outlets, estimating tens of thousands of annual incidents disproportionately affecting inmates and decrying the silence as evidence of devalued suffering. The zine's approach to perspectives rejected egalitarian platitudes, asserting that biological and cultural differences underpin divergent risk profiles—men dominating dangerous occupations (92% of U.S. deaths in the )—and accused academia and media of in prioritizing narratives due to ideological alignment with left-leaning institutions. Essays like those juxtaposing images of victims with rants on male expendability aimed to provoke recognition of , where societal mourning for women contrasts with indifference to male or industrial losses. While inflammatory, these pieces urged mutual over polarization, warning that unchecked feminist expansions into areas like skepticism erode trust and amplify gender antagonism without empirical grounding.

Satirical and Provocative Approach

Answer Me! employed a satirical and provocative style characterized by hyperbolic rants, dark humor, and deliberate shock value to challenge prevailing cultural narratives on , victimhood, and social grievances. described the magazine's content as "a wholesale attack on the hysteria and illogic of the 'hard-core feminist ,'" utilizing and irony to expose what he perceived as irrationalities in modern discourse. This approach often featured raw, unfiltered explorations of topics such as , , and , blending journalistic elements with fictional premises to provoke discomfort and reflection rather than mere titillation. The zine's provocation extended to blurring the boundaries between genuine and , making it challenging for readers to discern intent, which acknowledged as a flaw in : "the intended targets never get it," potentially undermining its critical aims. Pieces like observational reports on public events or interviews with fringe figures were laced with acerbic commentary, aiming to dismantle sanitized views of and highlight hypocrisies in victim-centered ideologies. This method echoed aesthetics but emphasized intellectual dissection over anarchy, positioning the publication as a counter to what the Goads saw as emotionally manipulative cultural trends. Critics and defenders alike noted the style's edge derived from its refusal to soften blows, with content that courted charges—such as Issue No. 4's focus on —defended in court as protected rather than . Goad's technique prioritized visceral impact to force confrontation with uncomfortable realities, prioritizing truth-telling through offense over polite consensus.

Obscenity Trial for Issue 4

In 1994, Issue 4 of Answer Me!, a provocative edited by and Debbie Goad with a thematic focus on , was distributed through independent newsstands, including Magazine Heaven in , operated by Gary Stohl and Teri Hjelsand. The issue featured graphic articles, illustrations, and satirical pieces examining societal responses to , including critiques of victimhood narratives and gender dynamics, which prompted complaints to local authorities. Whatcom County Prosecutor David S. McEachran investigated the complaints and issued a warning to Stohl and Hjelsand to stop selling the issue, deeming it obscene under Washington state law. Upon their refusal, McEachran charged them in 1995 with one count each of promoting pornography, a Class C felony carrying a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a $10,000 fine, for violating Revised Code of Washington 9.68.050, which prohibits the dissemination of obscene materials. The charges centered on allegations that the zine lacked serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value, appealed to prurient interest, and depicted sexual conduct in a patently offensive manner, per the Miller v. California (1973) test for obscenity. The trial unfolded in Whatcom County Superior Court over three days in early 1996, with the prosecution arguing the content constituted without redeeming social merit, while the defense, supported by the ACLU of Washington, contended it was protected speech as satirical commentary on cultural hypocrisies, bolstered by testimony from contributors like cartoonist Molly Kiely and experts on . On February 1, 1996, the jury acquitted Stohl and Hjelsand, with lead juror Gene Wowk stating that the prosecution failed to prove the defendants knowingly distributed and that the zine possessed sufficient value to evade obscenity classification under community standards. The underscored challenges in applying statutes to alternative publications, as the case drew national attention for pitting free expression against local moral standards, though critics of the maintained its intent was to shock rather than inform. No further legal actions were pursued against the publishers or distributors elsewhere, despite the issue's controversial reputation leading to bans in other countries.

Broader Accusations and Defenses

Critics have accused Answer Me! of fostering through content that appeared to glorify , such as Jim Goad's article "Let’s Hear it for Violence Toward Women!", which parodied domestic statistics and was later cited as evidence in Goad's 1998 assault trial. Similar charges arose from Debbie Goad's rant "I Hate Women" and graphic depictions in Issue 4, including Peter Sotos's "," which detailed and scenarios, prompting claims that the zine normalized or trivialized beyond mere concerns. The publication faced broader allegations of inciting real-world harm, including assertions that Issue 2's content on mass murderers was quoted by , the perpetrator of the 1994 White House shooting, and that Issue 3's focus on influenced the 1996 deaths of three British teenagers described as neo-Nazis, who reportedly drew inspiration from its themes. These links, while publicized by media outlets, relied on anecdotal connections rather than direct causation, with no legal findings of responsibility against the publishers. In defense, Goad and collaborators maintained that Answer Me! aimed to provoke thought and expose societal hypocrisies through and unfiltered examination of taboos, stating their goal was "to amuse, provoke, and maybe jog your lazy-ass mind out of the stupor it's been in," rather than advocate harm. Supporters, including contributors like cartoonist Molly Kiely, argued during related legal proceedings that the zine's irreverent style critiqued victimhood narratives and without endorsing the acts depicted, emphasizing artistic intent over literal interpretation. Goad has consistently rejected accusations of hate promotion, framing the content as a misanthropic mirror to darkness, comparable to punk zine's shock tactics, and dismissing critics as overly sensitive to uncomfortable truths.

Chocolate Impulse Hoax

Creation and Fictional Premise

Chocolate Impulse was produced by Jim Goad and his wife Debbie Goad in 1994 as a standalone 32-page zine, published between the third and fourth issues of Answer Me!. The Goads crafted it as a deliberate fabrication to parody elements of contemporary zine culture and political discourse, drawing on their experiences with criticism of Answer Me!'s provocative content. In the zine, the Goads assumed the personas of an interracial couple—one portrayed as and the other as —residing in a conservative small town in . The narrative detailed fabricated accounts of their daily life, emphasizing alleged encounters with rampant homophobia, , and hostility from local residents, including vivid descriptions of harassment and . This setup included pseudo-personal essays, faux editorials, and features like "In the Crosshairs," which targeted perceived oppressors in their invented , mimicking the style of victim-focused underground publications of the era. The fictional premise extended to the couple's self-presentation as marginalized outsiders producing the as a form of resistance and documentation, complete with DIY aesthetics, handwritten elements, and calls for solidarity from like-minded readers. By adopting these identities, the hoax simulated the tropes of identity-based grievance storytelling prevalent in 1990s , including exaggerated claims of systemic persecution to elicit sympathy and outrage.

Revelation and Intended Critique

The Chocolate Impulse , a 32-page released in , was initially presented as the work of "Val" (a white ) and "Faith" (a Black ), an interracial couple residing in a small town, chronicling their alleged encounters with rampant , homophobia, domestic , and other forms of while directing pointed at Jim and Debbie Goad and their Answer Me! . This fabricated narrative included lurid, improbable personal anecdotes designed to evoke sympathy through exaggerated tales of , which circulated within the punk and without immediate detection of its artificial origins. The gained traction among segments of the community that had previously issued negative reviews of Answer Me! for lacking sufficient "oppressed" perspectives, with outlets such as Feminist Baseball responding positively to Chocolate Impulse and praising its raw depiction of victimhood, thereby inadvertently validating the parody's premise. Revelation of its contrived nature occurred subsequently through reprints in Answer Me! compilations, where Jim and Debbie Goad explicitly disclosed their authorship and the zine's deceptive framing as a supposed external of their own work, exposing how it had duped critics eager for alignment with identity-based grievance stories. The core intent behind the was to lampoon the prevailing dynamics in underground culture, particularly the disproportionate valorization of publications rooted in claims of intersecting marginalizations—such as race, sexuality, and regional backwardness—over those emphasizing unvarnished or male-centric viewpoints, as seen in Answer Me!. By embodying the archetype of ultimate victimhood that the scene purported to champion, the Goads highlighted the selective and ideological that rewarded sensationalized narratives while dismissing dissenting or less "authentic" voices, underscoring a critique of performative authenticity in subcultural gatekeeping. This approach mirrored broader satirical impulses in Answer Me! to provoke reflection on cultural incentives for fabricating or amplifying oppression to secure approval and distribution within insular networks.

Legacy and Compilations

Influence on Underground Publishing

Answer Me! shaped underground publishing by exemplifying a confrontational, taboo-defying approach that diverged from the dominant punk and emphases in culture, instead foregrounding misanthropic critiques of human behavior and societal pieties. Published irregularly from 1991 to 1994 in and Portland, its four issues—each themed around extreme subjects like , , , and —prioritized visceral, unfiltered over polished , influencing creators to experiment with as a tool for cultural . This style, often blending humor with brutality, carved out a niche for "extreme" that rejected the zine scene's informal norms of communal positivity, as noted in contemporaneous accounts of its reception. The 's reception evolved from initial backlash within the underground community—where publishers decried its content as beyond satirical bounds—to grudging admiration, particularly after promotional stunts like the fictional "Chocolate Impulse" exposed hypocrisies in zine criticism. By surviving charges and distribution challenges, Answer Me! highlighted the legal precariousness of provocative small-press work, thereby informing later publishers on navigating while amplifying marginalized or contrarian voices. Its aggressively anti-PC posture, rare amid the era's countercultural currents, inspired strands of that prioritized empirical confrontation with human flaws over ideological alignment. Enduring through reprints and compilations, such as the edition collecting all issues, Answer Me! continues to serve as a touchstone for underground creators seeking to revive analog provocations in digital eras, underscoring the format's capacity for uncompromised expression. Jim Goad's subsequent works, including The Redneck Manifesto (1997), extended its themes into book form, perpetuating influence on writers addressing class-based resentments and anti-victimhood in fringe publications. While direct lineages to specific zines remain anecdotal, its model of controversy as creative fuel persists in mean-spirited, boundary-testing outputs within , and cult media subcultures.

Recent Compilations and Reprints

In 2015, Scapegoat Publishing issued a revised edition of Answer Me!: The First Three, compiling the contents of issues 1 through 3 from the original 1991–1993 run, augmented by 60 pages of previously uncollected essays penned by following the magazine's discontinuation. This edition preserves the zine's raw interrogations of subjects, including , subcultures, and interpersonal conflicts, while incorporating Goad's retrospective commentary on its cultural impact. Nine-Banded Books followed in 2017 with ANSWER Me!: All Four Issues, a 480-page volume reprinting the complete run, encompassing the contentious fourth issue focused on , , and narratives. The publication reproduces the original layouts and content without alteration, facilitating access to materials previously limited by rarity and legal scrutiny. A subsequent 2020 reprint by Obnoxious Books again collected all four issues, reportedly in a full-color to enhance fidelity to the originals' visual style, including illustrations and inserts like the 1994 Chocolate Impulse parody. These efforts have sustained availability amid fluctuating demand from collectors and readers interested in underground publishing, though distribution remains niche due to the content's polarizing nature.

References

  1. https://www.scapegoatpublishing.com/answer-me-the-first-three-by-jim-goad/
  2. https://www.aclu-wa.org/news/answer-me-classic-case-censorship-washington-state/
  3. https://www.historylink.org/File/21226
  4. https://culturedvultures.com/answer-me-all-four-issues-review/
  5. https://www.biblio.com/book/answer-me-goad-jim/d/918225908
  6. https://www.secondstorybooks.com/pages/books/1350419/jim-goad-debbie-goad/answer-me-no-2-fanzine-goad-to-hell-enterprises-1992
  7. https://www.alternet.org/2000/04/interview_with_answer_mes_jim_goad
  8. https://www.secondstorybooks.com/pages/books/1350418/jim-goad-debbie-goad/answer-me-no-1-fanzine-goad-to-hell-enterprises-1991-1992-signed?soldItem=true
  9. https://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/answer-magazine-vol-1992-american-4896944148
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  11. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/561041.ANSWER_ME_
  12. https://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/answer-magazine-issue-jim-debbie-goad-532906929
  13. https://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/answer-jim-goad-suicide-jack-252470347
  14. https://www.wweek.com/archive/2017/10/17/suicidal-tendencies-from-our-march-6-1996-edition/
  15. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/34635121-answer-me-all-four-issues
  16. https://www.abebooks.com/book-search/title/answer/author/goad-jim/
  17. https://jimgoad.net/pdf/violence/101suicide.pdf
  18. https://www.csmonitor.com/USA/[Society](/page/Society)/2017/1228/Reporters-grapple-with-the-right-way-to-cover-the-far-right
  19. https://img1.wsimg.com/blobby/go/7c4463e3-109c-48af-b9be-98e22cdf2116/downloads/83539139727.pdf
  20. https://jimgoad.net/pdf/promotional.pdf
  21. https://cdn.bookey.app/files/pdf/book/en/answer-me!.pdf
  22. https://magazine.tank.tv/issue-32/features/the-cruel-jerk/
  23. https://www.amazon.in/ANSWER-Me-All-Four-Issues/dp/0990733556
  24. http://interamerica.de/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/karpp.pdf
  25. https://www.bookey.app/book/answer-me%21
  26. https://www.wweek.com/archive/2017/10/17/the-answer-not-guilty-from-our-february-7-1996-edition/
  27. https://www.nytimes.com/1995/11/26/us/question-put-before-court-is-magazine-smut-or-satire.html
  28. http://www.aclu-wa.org/news/answer-me-classic-case-censorship-washington-state/
  29. http://www.jimgoad.com/books/answer-me
  30. https://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Society/2017/1228/Reporters-grapple-with-the-right-way-to-cover-the-far-right
  31. https://www.alternet.org/2000/04/the_answer_not_guilty
  32. https://www.scribd.com/document/701270230/chocimp
  33. https://thebedlamfiles.com/commentary/looking-back-on-some-bad-influences/
  34. https://medium.com/news-to-table/from-zine-racks-to-hell-sites-and-back-again-9880785f5a31
  35. https://www.zinebook.com/resource/wright1.html
  36. https://headpress.com/blog/2022/02/11/dangerous-encounters-the-horror-film-fanzine-as-a-subversive-art/
  37. https://books.google.com/books/about/Answer_Me.html?id=YobiPAAACAAJ
  38. https://www.ninebandedbooks.com/shop/book/answer-me-all-four-issues/
  39. https://books.google.com/books?id=BiBAMQAACAAJ
  40. https://books.google.com/books/about/ANSWER_Me.html?id=BrPbzQEACAAJ
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