The League of Women Voters of Naperville President Becky Simon recently reached out to a Naperville Central teacher, asking her to create a video that would spark discussion on the future of feminism.
“She decided that talking to a bunch of people in their 50s and 60s wasn’t giving us a look in the future, so she called me to gather up some girls and interview them with some questions to get their thoughts on feminism in the future,” said Katie Long-Piper, assistant activities and Hawk TV advisor.
Answering Important Questions
Long-Piper interviewed several students, asking them questions like what does feminism mean to you?
“What feminism means to me is recognizing that feminism isn’t just about women, but anybody who wants to embrace their femininity,” said Skye Sparks, one of the student panelists.
What kinds of discrimination do women face today?
“I believe that young women face discrimination in all sorts of ways,” answered student panelist Jocelyn Freeman. “A lot of times this may be through micro-aggressions, things that people say without realizing that the impacts of their words are going to be harmful.”
And what can Naperville do to promote women’s rights?
“Just earlier today I learned that we don’t have a rape and domestic abuse hotline,” said Alethea Pritchard, another student panelist in the video. “That’s just one of the many things we can work on together.”
Discussing the Video
The students said it was great to express their thoughts on the future of feminism, as well as hear from their classmates.
“I was really glad to be able to do it and I think it was a really great learning experience because watching the video I got to hear some really great points from the speakers as well, so I was really excited about that,” said student panelist Aastha Chouhan.
At a special panel discussion after the video premiered, the students led viewers through small group discussions about the video.
“The first breakout room was a little bit awkward because it was everybody’s first one and nobody really knew what to say,” said student panelist Nell Lorimer. “But then we all had really deep conversations and it was really cool to see that our responses could evoke those emotions in people.”
The Next Generation
Long-Piper said it was rewarding seeing how the next generation of women’s rights activists is thinking about feminism.
“I love their take on it, how feminism is going to move and how they want to see it move,” she said.
Naperville News 17’s Casey Krajewski reports.
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