[T]he presence of feminism in our lives is taken for granted. For our generation, feminism is like fluoride. We scarcely notice we have it - it's simply in the water.

As much as younger women are infused with a greater sense of possibility than most women of preceding generations, as a generation we are generally politically disengaged.

Our world loses out when the leadership doesn't reflect the led - when a minority makes decisions for the majority.

Thoughtful, energetic, smart, determined. I tried to own and further those qualities and often mustered them up when they were dormant and something wasn't going my way.

In college, a group of guys labelled me a "righteous little beaver." Again, I was slightly pissed because it seemed offensive and misdirected, but when I learned that beavers swim upstream, I realized that maybe it was fitting after all.

The truth is that our democracy is a work in progress. We are all its founders. We are all learning that we are linked and not ranked.

Empowering women isn't for women, but for the world.