Ms. Foundation Launches Campaign to Define 21st-Century Feminism

by Tabby Biddle

What does feminism mean to you?

For a long time, I did not consider myself a feminist. In fact, for most of my life, I did not consider myself a feminist. This is embarrassing to admit, knowing what I know now. How could I have not been a feminist?

But this truth is all too common for white, middle-class women of my generation. As female members of Generation X, many of us grew up being told that we could be anything. We could do anything. The "glass ceiling" was being broken.

This gave us an assumption that we had equal rights with men. Why wouldn't we?

Over the last 10 years, as we have seen the drastic poverty rates of women, the attack on women's health, the incredulous violence against women, and the paltry numbers of women at the top levels of leadership, it has become shockingly clear that we cannot let feminism fade. We cannot let our voices fall silent. We cannot assume that we have equal rights. Because we don't.

While the passage of the Equal Rights Amendment is one goal of feminism, there are many others. Rightfully so.

This week The Ms. Foundation for Women launched a campaign to spark a national conversation about 21st-century feminism. What is it? How has feminism evolved? How can feminism be more inclusive?

“People often have an impression of Feminism based upon how it is represented in the media and history books. But, too often, those representations are incomplete pictures of Feminism, leaving so many of us wondering where we fit in,” says Ms. Foundation for Women President and CEO Teresa C. Younger.

"This campaign is an invitation to build a more inclusive movement that includes all genders, races, ethnicities, cultures and ages."

With this campaign the Ms. Foundation is asking everyone—what does your Feminism look like?

Join the conversation on Twitter with the hashtag #MyFeminismIs, and share your comments below.

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Tabby Biddle, M.S.Ed., is a leading voice and advocate for advancing women's leadership and the human rights of women and girls. She is the author of the #1 Amazon Bestseller, Find Your Voice: A Woman’s Call to Action, now available in paperback. Get your copy here.