Editor's Letter: The All Women Issue

June 30, 2024

Dearest Readers,

Are you ready for something special? 

In Issue No. 8 of our magazine, every word, every story, every photo, every illustration, every essay, every poem, every paragraph, every comma, every everything has been created by women. Yes, we always publish a diverse chorus of voices, but for this very special edition, we’ve invited the women to sing. 

Welcome to The All Women Issue of The Bitter Southerner.

The assignment we gave ourselves wasn’t exactly easy. To make it happen (and make it great), every single editorial decision had to be deliberate and focused. We’re happy to report that the universe really lined up. For example, in “‘Mama’ of the Movement,” we could find only two images (both taken in the early ’60s) and both were made by male photographers. Enter Atlanta artist Shanequa Gay, who incorporated those photos into an artful collage. The final result is that our story is now illustrated by one of the most “on fire” female artists in the U.S.

Of course, we were overjoyed when Kacey Musgraves said yes to our cover. In her new album, Deeper Well, Kacey sings about finding an inner source of strength, which felt oh-so-right for the issue. She was photographed by her actual sister, Kelly Christine Sutton, in and around Austin’s Laguna Gloria. As it turns out, the villa and sculpture gardens there were originally built by one of the most badass women in the state’s history. Kacey and Kelly, sisterhood and creativity, a gorgeous day in Austin, Texas … the female energy was electric. In “The Feminine Spirit,” penned by Christina Lee, Kacey tells us how she’s shaped her career by staying true to her own vision, not the suits around the table. And how for Kacey, leading with softness and love is as feminist as it gets.

As for the rest of this book, we’ve covered some ground. A grande dame of the food world, Toni Tipton-Martin, kicks off the issue with a Letter From Home that’s also an ode to the Black women who’ve taught our country to cook and who fill Toni’s extensive and beloved cookbook collection. The incomparable Roxane Gay is here with a serious and at times humorous look at TikTok and its effects on our psyches and culture at large. (Spoiler alert: It’s not good news.) The great Joan Baez, now 83, shares a poem that spans the course of her life. Get ready. Her words knocked us to our knees. There’s a gorgeous photo essay, “The Unstoppable Women of Nashville,” that includes Gloria Johnson, Allison Russell, SistaStrings, Caroline Randall Williams, and the fearless, tireless, determined moms of The Covenant School. There are women in danger, funny women, marvels of the media, beauty school students, and insomniacs. Great writers like Elissa Altman, Sabrina Orah Mark, Holly Haworth, Jewel Wicker, and Shane Mitchell have all emptied their hearts onto these pages.

In a scary year for our country, we’ve leaned hard into how we’re feeling. Our hope is that you’ll read what these women have to say and lean with us. Yes, women’s rights and freedoms (and what once felt like respect) continue to roll back down the hill we’ve climbed for decades. Still, we push on. We march on. We won’t give up. Listen to these women. Share their stories. Have conversations with your friends and families. Send the magazine to someone who might need to read it. And finally, please VOTE for candidates who have the interests of ALL WOMEN at heart.

This is an issue for all of you, dear readers.

Enjoy.

Kyle

Kyle Tibbs Jones
Co-Founder, Editorial & Communications Director