STORY: LYDIA SNAPPER PHOTOGRAPHY: MEAGAN SULLIVAN
I USED TO whisper when I said the word “feminism.” I likened it to a curse word— the label of being a “feminist” not to equality, but to selfishness. I became silent, voluntarily ignorant because I was afraid about what people would think about me. I was being selfish. Feminism isn’t called feminism because it promotes female supremacy, but because it holds so much historical significance of gender equality. No, being a “feminist” isn’t new or fashion-trendy, but is more a way of expressing contribution to the continuation of an endless journey to empower all genders. While we do have to inform our community that men do go through struggles, women struggle with similar issues but at greater intensities (especially concerning their race, sexuality, socioeconomic status, and anything that makes them different). Just because I promote the empowerment of one gender doesn’t mean I put down the other. All women, cisgender, transgender, gay, bisexual, queer, colored, disabled, and everyone in between throughout the globe, have the right to be and feel confident. Not only do we have to realize feminist issues like school dress codes and the wage gap, but more specifically we need to acknowledge the injustice women go through for being anything but white and cisgender. We have to recognize women struggling beyond the borders of America.
To raise fundraisers, start clubs, to do anything we can as young adults now for a greater future for the next generation to come. To respect women for who they are. To let them speak. By supporting intersectional feminism, we can recognize females on a wider spectrum. As the youth of this generation, it’s time to voice our minds. It’s our chance to embrace this journey of empowerment. In order to create a just, modern 21st century, the world needs to comprehend the concept of feminism. No— not because of the belief that women are better than men, but to advocate the equality to men socially, politically, and economically. To be treated fairly, justly, and uniformly. To tear down the old, traditional standards that a woman’s priority is to please a man and to wreck the conception of a world that is male dominated. To tell schools to not address a dress code, but to teach their students that women are not objects. To exclaim that neither skin color, sexuality, nor socioeconomic status is a factor that should detriment a woman’s importance in society. To inform people that gender inequality still exists, even if it may not seem to. To have a society that is equal. It’s time for people to support and raise up women on a worldwide level. Don’t be quiet; speak your mind. – KIANA FERNANDEZ, CONTENT CREATOR
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