I believe I was raised with feminist values, but I don't think I ever heard my Mom call herself a feminist. Before I identified as a feminist myself, I thought of feminism as more of a historical term describing the women's movement in the '70s but didn't know much about what they had done and didn't think it applied to my life at all.
Julie ZeilingerIn 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.
Julie ZeilingerI 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.
Julie ZeilingerThe idea of equality is still how I define feminism. I think it's a broad definition that encompasses the variety of experiences women and men have with the word and the movement.
Julie ZeilingerI honestly feel that most young women out there are feminists - they just don't know that the word "feminism" describes the things they believe in. I wants to show young women that while feminists of the past did incredible work and that while the relative equality we experience now is due to their hard work, we still have a ways to go. We still have to fight for our rights and be vigilant in terms of keeping the rights we do have.
Julie ZeilingerI believe I was raised with feminist values, but I don't think I ever heard my Mom call herself a feminist. Before I identified as a feminist myself, I thought of feminism as more of a historical term describing the women's movement in the '70s but didn't know much about what they had done and didn't think it applied to my life at all.
Julie ZeilingerI 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.
Julie Zeilinger