On February 5th, one of the most iconic figures of the feminist movement, Gloria Steinem, insinuated that the young women who supported U.S. presidential candidate Bernie Sanders did so because they were \u2018following the boys.\u2019 This statement sparked a backlash and outraged many, especially young feminists. For many of them, Steinem is an inspiration; but this statement undermined belief in their agency and their ability to think critically \u2013 no matter which candidate they prefer.<\/p>\n
Young feminists will not vote for a woman just for the sake of her being a woman. They care about much more than gender and it is time for us to listen to them. They see feminist issues as inseparable from, and deeply intertwined with, racism, colonialism, classism, LGBTQ issues, poverty, ableism, and all forms of oppression \u2013 what\u2019s often referred to as \u201cthe intersectional analysis\u201d of oppressions.<\/p>\n
In fact, young women are at the frontlines of some of the most significant social movements of our time. From Idle No More, to Black Lives Matter, to the movements for reproductive justice and refugee rights, they are speaking out against all forms of social injustice and are taking center stage. One can only recall the iconic image of Amanda Polchies in Elsipogtog holding a feather in the face of a line of riot police, in defence of her land. Or Widia Larivi\u00e8re and Melissa Mollen-Dupuis spearheading Idle No More Quebec.<\/p>\n
Here at Girls Action Foundation, we just celebrated our 20th anniversary. For the last two decades we have worked nationally towards girls\u2019 and young women\u2019s empowerment. As an organization that keeps its \u2018ear to the ground\u2019 and is responsive to the needs of a network of over 300 grassroots organizations across the country, we can say with confidence that girls and young women still care to identify as feminists.<\/p>\n
More importantly, we have learned in our work that we cannot empower young women without speaking of the multiple and interconnected realities they face.<\/p>\n
As we commemorate the 100th anniversary of the women\u2019s right to vote this year, and celebrate the women advocates who have come before us, let\u2019s also celebrate the future of feminism today, led by young women. Let\u2019s not assume young people know less, have experienced less, struggled less -instead let\u2019s listen to them and find a way to leverage the strengths of all experiences and perspectives.<\/p>\n
Let\u2019s also use this milestone, as well as the broadening of feminism as understood and led by young women, to encourage the creation of more intergenerational spaces, where women of all generations call learn from one another and work together.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
On February 5th, one of the most iconic figures of the feminist movement, Gloria Steinem, insinuated that the young women who supported U.S. presidential candidate Bernie Sanders did so because they were \u2018following the boys.\u2019 This statement sparked a backlash and outraged many, especially young feminists. For many of them, Steinem is an inspiration; but […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":913,"featured_media":282601,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"content-type":"","ep_exclude_from_search":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"article-status":[],"irpp-category":[],"section":[],"irpp-tag":[],"class_list":["post-293298","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n