Now, I think a lot of people look around and feel that we're relatively equal with men. In fact, women are now the majority of college graduates, we have role models like Hillary Clinton to look up to - it seems like the world is completely open to us and we can accomplish anything. I think feminists are often disdained today because we're seen as complaining about a problem people think no longer exists. I also think young women shy away from calling themselves feminists because many haven't been educated about it or exposed to it. They don't know enough about it to identify with it.

I think magazines like Glamour have the ability to have a great impact. Glamour has the ability to expose them to things like feminism that they may not be well acquainted with. In fact, Glamour has done that in the past - when I was in eighth grade I read an article in Glamour magazine about female feticide and infanticide that actually sparked my entire interest in feminism. I hate it when some feminists say we should get rid of beauty and fashion magazines - I think there's room in feminism for fashion, for fun, for talking about sex and friendships and relationships, etc.

I can't really speak to what it was like to call yourself a feminist in the past on a personal level but I think calling oneself a feminist in the past may have been inimical because feminists in the '70s were the first to really challenge deeply embedded gender roles and demand concrete political and economic rights. They were asking for rights that seemed like a direct threat to those in power - they were asking for equality in a society that didn't have it in an obvious way. They were put down and villainized because they were seen as threatening.

Now, I think a lot of people look around and feel that we're relatively equal with men. In fact, women are now the majority of college graduates, we have role models like Hillary Clinton to look up to - it seems like the world is completely open to us and we can accomplish anything. I think feminists are often disdained today because we're seen as complaining about a problem people think no longer exists. I also think young women shy away from calling themselves feminists because many haven't been educated about it or exposed to it. They don't know enough about it to identify with it.

From what I understand from talking with older friends and feminists, I think that once I enter the workforce and start to think about marriage and having children, my gender will probably eclipse my feminist identity in terms of marginalization. Discrimination in terms of hiring and in the workplace are still real according to statistics. I also think, as a feminist, figuring out what a relationship based on true and complete equality is will be a challenge. But hopefully by the time I'm dealing with those issues feminists will have made great progress in all of those areas.

I actually felt like college was a much better and more comfortable environment for me than high school was. I think that can largely be attributed to the fact that I go to Barnard, which is a women's college that promotes women's leadership, a strong community and independence which are all things I obviously value. Before I got to school I think I expected most women there to identify as feminist, which I found wasn't necessarily the case, but I loved that I was able to have really intelligent and stimulating conversations with women about feminism no matter how they identified.

In terms of feminism, I would just ask young women to keep an open mind about it and try to learn about it before they write it off or believe the negative stereotypes that surround it. Feminism can help you on a personal level, it can offer you an incredible community of brilliant and impassioned people, and can change the way you see the world if you just open yourself up to it. I think that goes for all causes as well.