How I See Feminism

By Jasmine Carlos

I’m a junior in high school and identify as a loud, proud feminist, but sometimes I feel like I’m the only one. In my experience, some classmates tend to label young feminists as irrational, overzealous or angry. Lately, I've started to think it's because my peers assume that the feminist movement only focuses on what they perceive to be “adult problems,” such as the wage gap or paid family leave. In order for the feminist movement to truly reach young people, I’ve created a list of the top nine things I wish feminists knew about teenagers:

1. We still feel crazy pressure to fit in.

Since high schoolers don’t think feminism is “cool,” it can be hard to admit to being one. “Sometimes I feel ashamed of telling people I’m a feminist because of the negative connotation. I don’t want people to think I’m ‘annoying’ or ‘crazy’ just because I believe in women’s rights, so I don’t say anything," a high school junior once told me. But for feminism, silence is the enemy. And whether it's the 470,000 people who stormed Washington, DC, for the Women's March, or the females banning together to say "me too," there's one thing that's clear—there's power in numbers.

2. We're not anti-male.

Some boys at my high school, unfortunately, make fun of feminism. I asked guys for their anonymous takes on the subject, and this was the most memorable one I received: “The people that support feminism are a waste of oxygen. Without them, the earth will not degrade as quickly.” He was joking I'm sure, but this response shows just how divisive the word truly is. Many teens (both boys and girls) are under the impression that feminism has spiraled into a movement to make women greater than men. Sometimes we forget that equality is a compromise, and we need both sides to achieve it. Like Natalie Dormer said in Glamour, "Men must be viewed as part of the solution for lasting, effective change."

3. We hide behind our screens.

I texted a group of 28 girls and asked them their thoughts on of the effects of feminism on our generation. I didn’t receive a single response. So, I tried another method—texting each individual girl—and got a quote from each. A recent Washington Post study found that 63 percent of women aged 18-34 identify themselves as feminists, but it’s clear from my survey that we're not all that comfortable saying it out loud.

4. We understand social media can be problematic.

Social media plays a massive role in the lives of high school girls. But as we spend our days scrolling through Instagram and Facebook, we're often confronted with accounts that showcase unfavorable representations of women. Consider popular Instagram accounts like @chicksinthewild, which has 679,000 followers, or @totalfratmove, which has 1.5 million followers, that often illustrate women as immature, clueless, and just plain stupid. As a high schooler, social media is how we present ourselves to the outside world, but it's also how the outside world makes itself known to us. When these sexist accounts blow up our feeds with videos and images that degrade us, it's extremely difficult for us to not internalize the messaging.

5. We hate dress codes.

Let's take a minute to think about the actual philosophy behind it. At my school, girls are prohibited from wearing certain articles of clothing to “avoid distraction.” Spaghetti straps, short shorts, and “showing shoulders” are all banned. But why should the girls be required to change their style? Presumably to protect heterosexual males from distraction. By doing so, though, we're once again blaming women for something men need to deal with. Most, if not all of us, find this incredibly frustrating.

6. Power abuses happen to us, too.

Sexual harassment in schools is something that needs to be continually and unrelentingly addressed. Recently, an anonymous high school girl opened up to me about her personal experience with misconduct by a teacher. When she had to go on a field trip with this teacher, she had a full-blown panic attack. "I asked a friend for help," she says. "She told me to 'just stop thinking about it' and 'get over it because he didn't mean to' while I was crying on the bathroom floor." According to the U.S. Centers of Disease Control and Prevention 2012, more than one in ten high school-age girls have been sexually assaulted. Conversations surrounding #MeToo need to start earlier, so girls experiencing harassment in high school feel included in the conversation and are emboldened to speak up.

8. Above all, we want equal rights.

The feminist movement can only grow stronger with the more people fighting together. So, let's take advantage of all the crusaders at all ages—especially the younger generations—as teens are proving themselves to be true champions of the cause. Be it Emma González and the Parkland students fighting for gun control, or the new wave of Gen Z Hollywood activists like Rowan Blanchard, Yara Shahidi, Amandla Stenberg, or Kiersey Clemons—teenage girls are invaluable assets in leading the feminist movement into the future.