English

LOVER is a Dutch intersectional feminist online magazine that started as a journal in 1974. The magazine was an important distributor of the philosophy of the second feminist wave in the Netherlands. It published pieces of well-known feminists, such as Anja Meulenbelt, Joke Kool-Smit, Selma Leydesdorff, Gloria Wekker and Maaike Meijer. It’s one of few feminist magazines from that time that still exists.

The origin of LOVER
LOVER was first published in 1974, as a supplement of the MVM newsletter. In the heydays of the second feminist wave plenty of feminist publications appeared and a clear overview was needed in this jungle of writings. The first volume of LOVER was nothing more than a list of recent publications. The name LOVER is an abbreviation of ‘Literature OVERview’ and is thus pronounced as lóó-ver.  

The supplement was that popular that LOVER quickly grew into a full-fledged magazine. Instead of an overview medium it became more and more a discussion forum. LOVER soon was a quality magazine. It published frequently in the 70’s and 80’s about current affairs, such as the abortus legislation, women’s rights, peace issues and social legislation. It also payed attention to lesbian relationships and female history. At the beginning of the 80’s the print had increased to 5000. The magazine had 3000 subscribers and it was sold in 60 different bookshops across the Netherlands. In 1981 LOVER was rewarded with the Annie Romeinprijs for its informative value, clear vision and non-dogmatic nor sectarian approach.

Online
After decades of being a printed magazine, LOVER is completely available online since October 2011. The publish format has also changed: LOVER publishes a few articles every week. LOVER is also active on Social Media.

Intersectional
The women’s movement can, just like all social movements, not be captured in one general heading. Feminism already has an international character from the beginning, but the focus was heavily on the western world. The Netherlands was mainly influenced by the radical feminist movement of the United States and other social movements of the 60’s and 70’s. This resulted in a feminist movement that had a rather ‘white’ character. Black women didn’t recognise themselves in the existing women’s movement and weren’t heard sufficiently.

During the 80’s more awareness and discussion arose about the differences between women. Other societal inequalities such as racism, ethnocentrism and sexual lifestyles should also be considered together with their interconnectedness with sexism. Over the years LOVER has started to focus more on intersectional feminism. The magazine thus works hard for the representation and position of marginalised groups worldwide.

Policy

By frequently publishing on the website and on Social Media, LOVER will continue building on a strong online community the upcoming years. LOVER aspires to further develop cooperations with other society critical organisations and to join forces this way.

Being an organisation without profit motive LOVER fully operates on donations. These incomes are used to guarantee the future of the foundation and to maintain the website. The members of the board and the editorial board work on a voluntary base and don’t receive any remuneration.

LOVER is an ‘ANBI’ since 1 January, 2020. This means that you could deduct your donation from your income taxes.

The editors and guest editors are individually responsible for their publications and activities. The foundation and the board aren’t liable for the content of the publications.  

The policy plan of 2019-2021 can be found here.

The privacy policy of LOVER can be found here.

The annual report of 2020 can be found here.

CONTACT

Foundation LOVER is statutory located in Amsterdam.

Correspondance address:

Foundation LOVER
Rijnstraat 22-1
6811 EW Arnhem

Chamber of Commerce: 34355515

Fiscal number: 821157383

LOVER consists of motivated editors and board members. We’re always looking for topics and authors and are open for tips and ideas. Don’t hesitate to contact us.

General information:

Editorial cases: (our editors can be found here)

Adverts, cooperations and other business:

The board consists of Miranda Valkenburg (chair), Marloes van Essen (treasurer), Wendy Hardeveld (secretary) and Maaike van Leendert (board member communication).