Olivia's Story

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Sitting in my 9th-grade biology class, a classmate told me that feminism was unnecessary because men and women are equal.  How could this student be telling me this when only a few months ago I opened my laptop to a news report stating that Princeton University was underpaying their female professors and now has to compensate them over a million dollars.  Sorry, the reality is men and women are not equal.  But I credit this student's comment for inspiring me to educate the public on the necessity of feminism.  
   Feminism is the desire for equality amongst the genders.  Yet in today’s society, it’s common to hear people say they do not believe in feminism due to its “radical ideology.”  Feminism is not radical, nor is it dangerous.  If we can all agree that men and women should be given equal opportunities, then we are feminists.
   At the age of 16, I decided to explain the ideology of feminism through the creation of this newsletter, Feminism Explained.  The newsletter aims to address the negative connotations associated with the word ‘feminism’.  We do this by highlighting successful women and their empowering stories, by providing factual evidence of gender inequality, and by featuring historical events, reminding us how our ancestors fought to allow us to have the rights we enjoy today.  
   Feminism Explained is focused on educating the public on the issue of gender inequality and making feminism an ideology we can understand and support.  We believe the public must be educated on the topic before solutions are widely accepted, and we all know that solutions are crucial for the next generation, a generation that includes more women in the workforce.  
   Today, we are struggling for A united world but the good news is we have a uniting movement, feminism.  Gloria Steinem, once said "The story of women's struggle for equality belongs to no single feminist, nor to any one organization, but to the collective efforts of all who care about human rights."