A Response to International Women’s Day

It is not only on International Women’s Day, but every day that people should argue for women’s rights.

All day I wanted to participate and contribute to the sea of posts for IWD, but I struggled to find the right words to say. The posts and videos I saw inspired me to say something — as online activism frequently does — but I didn’t know exactly what that looked like. Should I post a painting by my favorite female artist? A quote from Bikini Kill’s Kathleen Hanna? A video outlining all the ways sexism is structurally integrated into American society?

What would inspire my online social circle the way my news feed inspired me?

I’m already a believer, a feminist. I already agreed with what those posts were trying to convince me of. I want to do more than support my fellow feminists. I want to change the non-believer’s minds. Unlike clicking “share,” actually changing people’s minds is not easy.

I really, really hate to admit it, but I was once a non-believer. There was a time when I thought feminists were wild women that wanted to put men underground and refused to shave because it intimidated people. I didn’t know any different, and didn’t know how much it mattered that men and women have equal rights. In my naive and narrow worldview, feminism was a fad that would eventually get pushed under the rug.

Part of the reason I love Northwestern is that people here aren’t afraid to respectfully tell me when I’m wrong — on this, or any other issue. People say that the more you know, the less you know. If nothing else, my education has really taught me how much I don’t know. Before I came to college, I was blinded by my own biases and lack of knowledge, but I didn’t even realize it. Luckily my peers spoke up to me and revealed my ignorance. Those are the moments that changed my mind. I am so thankful for those people who stood up and showed me I was wrong.

It’s not easy to stand up for your beliefs, but it’s so important. In order to change minds, we have to speak up and lead the way to understanding. I learned that the hard way, and I’m so grateful for it. Like a recovering addict, I recognize that I was wrong, and I’m so grateful to be clean and educated.

If you only have room for one take-away point, take this: Stand up for women’s rights on every day of the year. On the Internet, sure. But more importantly, in the real world.

For me, “standing up for feminism” comes in many forms. I called out the bouncer that told me to twirl for him before getting into a club, and the pre-teen boys I babysit for ranking girls in the their class. I spoke out against Kanye’s new album for its sexist comments to my music-loving friends. I pointed out the traditional and limiting portrayal of Eilis in Brooklyn to my parents. Since sexism comes in many forms, you can point it out to anyone. Whoever is around.

However, sexism is so stealthily ingrained in our world that sometimes we don’t even notice it. When we ignore sexism, like most forms of injustice, it slides unnoticed in language, media, behaviors, and policies. But once you realize sexism’s appalling prevalence, it’s easy to spot everywhere. As though a “Where’s Waldo?” turned into “Where’re the people?” Essentially, sexism is as easy to find as people in a crowd of people. There it is by the hot-dog stand, there it is in my econ discussion, there it is at the movies. Hey look! It’s even on the Supreme Court.

If we want actual change, we must look for, recognize, and speak up against sexism. Look out. Say something. Speak up for justice. Call me out. That’s how the wheels of change get moving.