The Perfect Mix Tape Segue #3: Getting a Vasectomy

"Offering thoughtful writing on a more obviously male health topic, Biel, the founder of Microcosm Publishing, devotes an issue of his personal zine to his vasectomy. He explains how he chose sterilization after seeing a number of his friends from his Ohio town (many of whom grew up in abusive homes) accidentally conceive children. He decided he never wanted to be in that position and could live without having biological children. He had the surgery when he was 25 and married. Biel also reports on the procedure and his recovery."

Offering thoughtful writing on a more obviously male health topic, Biel, the founder of Microcosm Publishing, devotes an issue of his personal zine to his vasectomy. He explains how he chose sterilization after seeing a number of his friends from his Ohio town (many of whom grew up in abusive homes) accidentally conceive children. He decided he never wanted to be in that position and could live without having biological children. He had the surgery when he was 25 and married. Biel also reports on the procedure and his recovery.

You have to admire the length to which Joe will go to back up his life choices. Highly recommended for anyone interested in babylessness.

Joe Biel runs Microcosm Publishing, and he says here that he thought, a few years ago, that he was done writing zines of his own. He felt content at the time to let other people articulate his feelings for him. But as he discovered — and as I myself once discovered — zining isn't something that you can necessarily choose to give up. To paraphrase a line from his wife's zine: "If you're still into punk at twenty-five, then you're in it for life". Not that authoring a diary zine is all too punk, but you see where I'm headed. In this particular issue of this particular zine (the title of which I adore), Joe writes about getting a vasectomy. What begins with stories of his high school friends' inadvertant pregnancies ends with Joe having his something or other clipped at Planned Parenthood. It's entirely pragmatic how he approaches the decision — so much that I'm thinking of going under the knife myself. Lets all hope that vasectomies become the new trend in body modification. My only complaint with this zine is that all off the clip art and backgrounds depict people on bicycles. But the only mention in the text of a bike is how Joe had to wait a couple weeks before riding his. I realize that this is probably just because Joe digs bicycles and digs these pictures of them. But given the subject matter, the juxtaposition made me squirm. I'm reminded of a story I saw on Dateline once, about how a bike seat can lead to sterility or impotence. But anyway . . .

I commend this writer for sharing such a personal and underlying political story.

Biel's writing is clear and specific. By giving us more than rhetoric and detailing his own experience, he personalizes the issue, making for engaging reading. He moves easily from the personal to the political and makes the connections fluidly, without preaching or talking down to his audience.
The layout here is simple cut-and-paste, the text interspersed with images of cycling and assorted sundries. This is a quality personal zine carried by the strength of the writing and of particular interest to those interested in discussion of child-free issues.