Note: The blog Fair and Feminist held a “This is What a Young Feminist Looks Like Blog Carnival” last Friday. The carnival was in response to a recent New York Times article by Gail Collins in which she said that middle-aged women she talks with wonder, “where are the young feminists?” I was a flake and didn’t get this blog post up until today, but that doesn’t mean it holds any less weight! Holly Kearl, in her second guest post, breaks it down:

As I wrote in my first guest post for Girl-Drive, I am very grateful for the concept of feminism because it has allowed me to not have my life path dictated by my gender. I self identify as a feminist and at this moment, I’m still fairly young.  So I am what a young feminist looks like.

There are thousands of us who self identify as feminist and not only take on the title, but take on the mission. As a women’s studies major, employee at a women’s equity nonprofit organization, and an online feminist activist on issues like street harassment, I am surrounded by strong women and men who are fighting for the rights of women. And many of them are young. It is a shame when the work we do every day is negated or made invisible because people with power and a voice (such as New York Times writers) wonder why we don’t exist.

In addition to the negation of the work of young feminists, I am frustrated by the obsession with rumination about whether or not people use the term feminist. Does it really matter if someone calls themselves a feminist if they support and actively work for women’s rights? Why waste time squabbling about titles when we have the same goals?To expand on that, let me share my experiences from the National Conference for College Women Student Leaders, a conference cosponsored by my employer AAUW each June. Five hundred college women from around the country (as well as a handful of international students) come together to network and learn how to be better leaders on their campus (photo to the right).

In the opening session, all attendees can stand up or sit down if they agree with various statements. Microphone-spotters help a few of the women share their reason why they have that stance. I’ve attended this session for the last three years and one of the questions always is, “Do you identify as a feminist?”

Each year only about half or a little over half of the room stands up. I learn the most from those who say they do not identify that way. While one year, one common theme seemed to be an inability to coincide religious teachings with feminist goals (e.g. women made comments like, “As the Bible says, I believe that men are the heads of the household, so no, I’m not a feminist”), the other two years I found myself sympathizing with the women’s reasons.

One common reason for not identifying as a feminist was racism and exclusion. Young women of color were the primary speakers. They felt that the racist history of feminism excluded them and made them uncomfortable taking on the title. Totally understandable; in the overall feminist movement there has been racism (and in some ways it continues) and too much focus on the issues that solely impact white women.

Another common reason for not identifying as a feminist was a dislike of labels. Women would say, “I don’t want to be tied to a label,” or wonder, “What does a title like ‘feminist’ really mean?” Others felt that taking on that label alienated them from people who otherwise support feminist goals and so it was better not to identify as a feminist in order to have more allies in achieving those goals. Again, I support and get that perspective.

Then, throughout the conference, all of the women who identified and did not identify as feminists worked together to discuss their common goals: helping more women run for student government, addressing body image issues, sexual assault, and a better inclusion of LGBQT students on campus, advocating for more reproductive rights and fair pay, strengthening self empowerment, and figuring out their life goals and career aspirations. The energy at the conference is intense and by the last day, many young women feel their life has been changed and they are more committed than ever to helping improve the rights of women and to make the most of their life.

It never matters that some of them called themselves feminists and others didn’t.

So while I write this post to say, “hey, young feminists are everywhere and we do exist,” I also write it to say, “I’ve never met a young woman who wasn’t interested and engaged in some women’s rights issue and improving the opportunities and happiness of women.” So if the question, “Where are all the young feminists?” was expanded to ask, “Where are all the young people who care about women’s issues, women’s rights?” the answer would be much more obvious, because they are everywhere you look.