Our Shared Shelf discussion

Hey guys! I am quite young and still at school, and I always feel like there is not much I can do to stand up for feminism. But I just found out that Emma is only in her mid twenties, and she has already accomplished so much. It made me realise that it doesn't matter that I'm still in school, and it doesn't matter that I'm younger than most people here. "If you put your mind to it, you can accomplish anything." I guess my aim for this discussion is to see what us youngsters can do to help this... Movement, I guess.

Right you are, Raquel!

I live by Emma's words: If not me, who? If not now, when?

Raquel, I think it's truly amazing that girls your age are interested in feminism, shows the world is evolving and you are being part of it. I'm not old (30) but I can see quite a difference from girls ten or fifteen years ago.
Being young and here means that you are educating yourself on the matter, as all of us are. Don't ever let anyone tell you you're too young to have an opinion, if you're a feminist it's because you know how it feels to be a woman.

Moved to Miscellaneous.

Hey Raquel! I'm young too (19 next month) and in my senior year in high school, and I know what you mean. I think it's amazing that you want to start making a difference now, and I know that age seems like an obstacle, but it isn't!

Some of the things I've done, for example, are inviting a spokeswoman to give a conference in my school about gender equality, organizing a marathon in benefit of a society that supports victims of domestic violence and I've written some pieces in the school newspaper to create awareness.

But I think that the most difficult yet important thing you can do is: being an example! Be a true feminist in real life, call out people (nicely) when they are doing something sexist/homophobic/racist/etc. If you manage to make a single person realize that discrimination is a real problem, and you make them change, you've already changed the world!

Please keep up your enthusiasm, we need people like you. Drop a message any time!

Raquel wrote: "Hey guys! I am quite young and still at school, and I always feel like there is not much I can do to stand up for feminism. But I just found out that Emma is only in her mid twenties, and she has a..."

What you can do is to start treating each and every person you met equally regardless of if they are boys or girls. Do that and lead by example and hopefully more people follow in your footsteps. Welcome and Cheers mate!

It depends on your personal capacity and your own circumstances, not on your age. Don't let someone tell you to shut up just because he or she's older than you.

There are lots of things that you can do in order to make things better than they are but that depends on every individual.

I think the age doesn't matter in my opinion because I'm 14 years old and I'm trying to understand many of new and interesting thing that I can learn here, but this is just my opinion..

Age does not matter!
I read this article today, that you (all) might find awesome. I know I sure do!
http://www.bustle.com/articles/139260...


I think it is VERY important to support young feminists. I'm still young too (I'm only 24), but I find it very empowering that so many teenagers are using their voice and advocating for gender equality.

MeerderWörter wrote: "Right you are, Raquel!

I live by Emma's words: If not me, who? If not now, when?"
I would like to believe that these are the words I live by too!

Thabata wrote: "Raquel, I think it's truly amazing that girls your age are interested in feminism, shows the world is evolving and you are being part of it. I'm not old (30) but I can see quite a difference from g..."

Thank you so much!!! I do try my best to ignore it when people tell me I'm 'too young to be a feminist' or 'too young to bring change to the world', but sometimes I really do wonder if there is anything I can actually do. However, reading all of these lovely comments helps me realise that simply educating myself is a leap in the right direction.

Kassel wrote: "Hey Raquel! I'm young too (19 next month) and in my senior year in high school, and I know what you mean. I think it's amazing that you want to start making a difference now, and I know that age se..."

Thanks so much!! Some of the things you've told me you've done have already inspired me and I'm looking into getting someone to come into our school too. I think it is incredible that people look down upon my/your/our capabilities simply because we are classified as 'too young', and I think it is great to prove them wrong! ( I know that that might come across as mean, but what I really mean is that it's good to prove to the world that you are not too young!) Thanks so much for your nice comment!!!

To all those who I did not personally reply to: Thanks so much for all of your lovely comments! I know I was inspired by just looking at some comments before I started this thread, but it is amazing how much this thread alone has made me so much more inspired. Also, the link Michelle sent us all (http://www.bustle.com/articles/139260...) is incredible and I think that you should all go check out - seriously it's incredible!!! Thank you all so much!!!

I myself am 17 at the moment. Sadly, I've yet to really participate in any form of activism. However, a weekly philosophy class in my school has just started with quite a large class (about 26 if I'm right, myself included) and I'm hoping that at some point in this semester I'll be able to use the seminar to actually get in front of people and speak to them about social change, feminism obviously being a necessary component thereof.

Is anyone in this group as old as I am? I'm pushing 50. My kids (all boys) are the same ages as most of you members (15-19). Any other Moms out there?

I'd love to meet her!

Also, now that I've got the attention of one of the moderators, is there a thread here for suggestions for future group reads. I think a good choice would be The Female Brain. It's hard science, but since most people tend to prefer fiction, it might be a good stretch for all of us.

It's good to start young. I came from a bigoted religious background and would probably have considered myself an anti-feminist until my mid 20s. It's really hard to wake up and realize you are not a good person and have to rethink everything. I'm still trying to educate myself.

Hi, Kressel - I am just getting ready to turn 50 myself. I've been a lawyer for more than 20 years, and I have a 19 year old daughter & a 15 year old son!

It is wonderful to see all of these young people embracing equality. It is a marathon, not a sprint, but it is great to see people crossing the starting line early, and with energy!

I too applaud all the young people here who are interested in feminism. And I encourage you to pursue your interest in it now--whether that interest extends to activism or further study--because feminism becomes harder & harder with age, just as everything else does. So ally yourself with some feminist groups *now* before it's too late. Because that scenario of young people gathered around the wise, elderly person asking for advice? Mostly fantasy (espec. if you're female). It's just the way it is in most of the world; heck all of the other animals beside humans mostly ignore their older members, espec. the females who are no longer able to bear young. Nature is as cut-throat as humans.

Ahah, I don't think there is such thing as being too young to be a feminist, there is no starting age for it! Going through the discussion called "when did you become a feminist", you will read that most of the members there feel they've always been, and most of the answers turn out to be more about when they "discovered" they were feminists. I myself like the idea that I have always been, and noticed early injustice done to women on a daily basis openly or more insidiously that made me realize maybe this world is not so equal. However, it took me a long time to dare to say to people I am feminist for I thought I wasn't ready, needed to study always more, being the best myself so I was taken seriously, to stay in the shadow until I could come up with all the answers and, at the very least, a presidential program. And that is a shame because the first feminist requirements that I support are so basic they shouldn't need that much preparation: respect, equality, and a lot of common sense.

It reminds me of a part of My Life on the Road, where women told Gloria Steinem they were not smart or ready enough to be a feminist, that also inspired it's own discussion in this group.
Honestly, it sounds from like a way to undermine your enthusiasm. So please don't mind it, cause your involvement is great and powerful! :)

Now, you read the Bustle article and inspiring initiatives members here took, I find Emma Watson's quote "If not me, who? If not now, when?" to be a very good point too, and I would like add Gloria Steinem's response to fourteen-year-old girls asking her for advice during a conference that your message immediately made me think of. She said "Don't listen to me, listen to yourselves."

There are many ways to contribute whether it is organizing a walk a conference, supporting a candidate, joining in an association, creating a bookclub ;) or simply raising your voice when witnessing something unfair (I wrote simply, but yes, sometimes it's not that easy) and being good to yourself. And your age doesn't define your legitimacy to start any of that.

Let us know how the conference at your school goes xx

Matt wrote: "It's good to start young. I came from a bigoted religious background and would probably have considered myself an anti-feminist until my mid 20s. It's really hard to wake up and realize you are not..."

((Pardon my quick hijack..Skip my post altogether if you want to stay on the topic!))

I arrested a guy one time who asked me if I thought he was a bad person. I told him I didn't think he was a bad person, just that he'd made a poor decision. I think he'd been caught stealing.

My point is you're not necessarily a bad person just because you've made a bad decision in the past. Conversely, if you're trying to educate yourself on feminism now you're not magically a good person all of a sudden. You always had the capacity within you to recognize and learn about equality. I do think it is a mark of good character when a person confronted with the pitfalls of a negative way of life or a bad decision consciously changes their lifestyle or way of thinking to reflect their recognition of their mistakes, a desire to improve, and the commitment to change. If you're supportive of and listening to the women in this group, I'd say that's a good sign.

J.K. Rowling put it best:

“We've all got both light and dark inside us. What matters is the part we choose to act on. That's who we really are.” ― J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/8222...)