Where are all the young people who care about women’s rights?

The blog Fair and Feminist is holding a “This is What a Young Feminist Looks Like Blog Carnival” today. The carnival is in response to a recent New York Times article by Gail Collins in which she said that middle-aged women she talks with wonder, where are the young feminists?

The blog carnival is a way to show where we are!

As I wrote in a recent guest post for Girl-Drive, I am very grateful for the concept of feminism because it has allowed me to not have my life path dictated by my gender. I self identify as a feminist and at this moment, I’m still fairly young.  So I am what a young feminist looks like.

There are thousands of us who self identify as feminist and not only take on the title, but take on the mission. As a women’s studies major, employee at a women’s equity nonprofit organization, and an online feminist activist on issues like street harassment, I am surrounded by strong women and men who are fighting for the rights of women. And many of them are young. It is a shame when the work we do every day is negated or made invisible because people with power and a voice (such as New York Times writers) wonder why we don’t exist.

In addition to the negation of the work of young feminists, I am frustrated by the obsession with rumination about whether or not people use the term feminist. Some women may feel uncomfortable with the term because of past racism found among white feminists, others may not like using labels to describe themselves, and others may not want to use the term for fear of alienating people who think feminists are man-haters. Does it really matter if someone calls themselves a feminist if they support and actively work for women’s rights? Why waste time squabbling about titles when we have the same goals?

So while I write this post to say, hey, young feminists are everywhere and we do exist, I also write it to say, I’ve never met a young woman who wasn’t interested and engaged in some women’s rights issue and improving the opportunities and happiness of women. So if the question, “Where are all the young feminists” was expanded to ask, “Where are all the young people who care about women’s issues, women’s rights?” the answer would be much obvious because they are everywhere you look.