Practicing feminism: Sacramento area students rally for social change
In classrooms across Sacramento, Inga Manticas and dozens of her fellow high school students are taking on the feminist fight and updating it for the 21st century.
The C.K. McClatchy High School senior has helped build a regional alliance of Sacramento high school feminist clubs, including at least five that have started only in the last year. In their meetings, students talk about the challenges facing women today, such as online shaming and continued barriers to equal pay in the workplace. They also widen their discussion to the challenges facing all races and sexual orientations.
Although women have made gains, Manticas said, the next generation of young women still has much hard work to do. Corporate boards and legislative bodies across the country remain largely male and white, while social media and other digital tools have ignited an explosion of sexist slurs.
When Manticas brought up women’s rights in her debate class, for instance, she said she got what she felt was a patronizing pat on the head from a male classmate – an episode that she said typifies the attitudes toward women she often encounters in school.
“I think people have this misconception that feminism isn’t necessary anymore because we have the right to vote, we have our own finances, we can own property,” Manticas said. “But really when you start to look at the social aspect of the way women are treated, we don’t have full equality.”
In April, the alliance organized its first conference, which featured Megan Seely, author of the book “Fight Like a Girl: How to be a Fearless Feminist,” as well as appearances by local transgender advocate Rachael Hudson and representatives of Community Against Sexual Harm, which serves victims of sexual exploitation. The conference also helped students design feminist “zines,” which the alliance and several high school clubs already publish.
Alliance members plan to organize another convention and put on a prom for women atPracticing feminism: Sacramento area students rally for social change | The Sacramento Bee:
