I’ve been called a terrorist yeah I’m
telling the truth it was in my 8th grade
social studies class actually now of
course she may ask why was the girl with
big blue glasses and bangs called a
terrorist and the answer is I said that
women were oppressed a privileged eighth
grade boy called me a terrorist because
I dared to tell him a fact that the wage
gap existed and then on average women
were paid less than men for doing the
same job what is feminism by the way as
defined by the dictionary and my a PR
peon history textbook feminism is the
advocacy of women’s rights on the basis
of equality of the sexes you heard me
right it’s not hating men and it’s not
female supremacy despite what some of my
male co-workers seem to think feminism
is not similar to communism like at all
is not some kooky liberal concept it is
simply equality for everyone and anyone
and I am proud to say that I am a
feminist let me point out something I’m
sure some of you are thinking and you
might not even realize you’re thinking
that I’m not as professional as a man
would be I’m standing up here as a 15
year old girl putting myself on display
and I’m terrified I mean of course I am
I’m in front of a huge audience and I’m
vulnerable but the crowd is not my
biggest worry I’m not only scared to
mess up I’m scared to be sneered at
mocked in my experience when a man
messes up in front of a crowd people
laugh as if to say haha how funny
when a woman messes up she isn’t seen as
funny but is seen as less legitimate
women just aren’t taken as seriously as
men and it’s been this way for hundreds
of years in 17th century Europe when
women tried sharing their ideas during
the Enlightenment men would not listen
to what they had to say instead men
would publish articles about how women
were biologically inferior women were
told to be good daughters good mothers
and good wife
a woman who wanted to pursue an
education was ridiculed men held a
natural dominance and women could never
come close they weren’t supposed to they
weren’t supposed to try they weren’t
supposed to think they could 17th
century Europe was not the only time
that women faced the obstacle of
medicine dominance currently the 2016
fortune 500 list of CEOs was only 4.2
percent female women are not seen as
people who could handle the pressure of
running a business
due to our hormones and are naturally
inferior bodies and minds but why ask
yourself does this make sense does this
percentage sound fair to you why is
there the suspicion that women are
inferior institutional ideas of how the
sexes should behave start young if you
walk down an aisle of a toy store with
toys marketed for boys you’ll see trucks
and tools and things that are considered
manly if you walk down an aisle aimed at
girls you’ll see cooking toys and
cleaning toys and dolls that reflect
unrealistic body standards these toys
tell girls that they’re supposed to cook
and clean and look good well the boys
toys tell them that their shows to build
and be tough my mom didn’t get me only
cooking and cleaning toys i played with
Matchbox cars and plastic tools but I
had my Barbie dolls to the ingrained
idea of a man’s place in a woman’s place
has been around for so long that no one
knows any different or even dares to
question it these gender biases are not
only seen in children’s toys they’re on
our magazine covers two covers for
women’s magazines advertise looking good
from men and pleasing men and not about
women being the best versions of
themselves or expressing themselves as a
girl who grew up insecure about her body
I always thought that I would never find
someone unless I looked better
I felt that I would never be good enough
until I gained a man’s approval I wish I
was only taught to need just my approval
we’re all susceptible to believing this
and it’s so harmful to our
self-confidence
I remember going to a Hannah Montana
concert at age five and thinking that I
could never be famous or accomplish
anything like her unless I was skinnier
and prettier me repeat that I was five
exposing young girls to advertisements
like these is unhealthy because it
pressures them to conform to unrealistic
standards as I thought I had to for so
much of my life like I said before it’s
not our fault that we don’t know to
challenge these gender roles they’ve
been set for so long and we were raised
with them in a PRP in history and we
read a passage written by a woman that
really rubbed me the wrong way here’s a
quote from the passage that I feel is an
accurate summary there is something so
unpleasant in female self-sufficiency
well I was raised by a single mother a
very pleasant self-sufficient female
there was no man to take care of us
my mom’s mother and father raised her to
don’t know how to support herself in the
real world she raised me alone and she
raised me well I know how to fend for
myself I’ve been using tools since I
could hold them and I’ve always had the
motivation to work for myself much like
my mother
personally I don’t want to be a
housewife while my husband works and
provides for the family not that there’s
anything wrong with making that choice
but I am more than a maid and a mother I
am strong and I’m independent and I only
need a man to kill the bugs so what can
we do to stop these imposed gender roles
we need to start young if you have a son
and he wants a doll get him that doll if
you have a daughter and she wants a
racecar get her that racecar raise young
girls to love themselves and take care
of themselves and teach young boys to
respect girls don’t ignore the existence
of sexual abuse don’t impose sexist
dress codes in schools that shame girls
for being comfortable and confident with
who they are telling girls that they
need to cover up so as not to distract
boys tells them that their bodies are
not something of which they should be
proud array
the double standard that a woman who
saves herself from marriage is a prude
but a woman who doesn’t is a stop
shaming men stop praising men for
sleeping with a lot of women when you
turn around and shame girls for doing
the same teach what is polite and what
is crossing a boundary telling someone
they look very nice is polite a man
calling out of his car hey baby nice
rack is crossing a line and threatening
here’s an example of wrong when a much
older man said to my coworker Brandon I
feel bad for all the guys working here I
don’t know how you could focus around
such hot girls well he looked our
co-worker Madison who was 15 at the time
up and down another example of wrong is
when a much older man said to me that if
he was just four years younger he would
fall in love with me he couldn’t have
been more than 50 well less than 50 I
responded with my age which was 15 he
said add a few and then just left in the
time that he was there I had to stay on
the phone with my mother while I took
out the garbage
because he wouldn’t stop staring at me
and I didn’t feel safe in the place I
was working after he left I called my
mom crying from the bathroom
these men are examples of why I’m scared
to go out alone at night and why my mom
worries so much for my safety but most
importantly these men are examples of
why we need to make a change the most
urgent thing we need to do is to show
all generations how to change their
actions ladies put up a fight if someone
says something objectifying or
threatening to you if a man cat calls
you don’t let him get away with it
don’t let him think you don’t mind or
that it’s okay behavior as girls can put
up a fight women should be able to be
themselves and not undo so comfortably
we should be able to challenge men and
not be scared to do so and men don’t
expect women to depend on you understand
the fact that we can be our own person
and run our own lives and treat us with
some respect don’t objectify us and
don’t assume that we want to sleep with
you together we can erase the idea that
feminism is man-hating and that women
are just bodies these are all examples
of
what we need to change how we can do it
and why we need to we are all more than
maids and mothers and objects for men’s
pleasure we are all strong we are all
independent and we are all damn proud to
be women thank you
[Applause]
telling the truth it was in my 8th grade
social studies class actually now of
course she may ask why was the girl with
big blue glasses and bangs called a
terrorist and the answer is I said that
women were oppressed a privileged eighth
grade boy called me a terrorist because
I dared to tell him a fact that the wage
gap existed and then on average women
were paid less than men for doing the
same job what is feminism by the way as
defined by the dictionary and my a PR
peon history textbook feminism is the
advocacy of women’s rights on the basis
of equality of the sexes you heard me
right it’s not hating men and it’s not
female supremacy despite what some of my
male co-workers seem to think feminism
is not similar to communism like at all
is not some kooky liberal concept it is
simply equality for everyone and anyone
and I am proud to say that I am a
feminist let me point out something I’m
sure some of you are thinking and you
might not even realize you’re thinking
that I’m not as professional as a man
would be I’m standing up here as a 15
year old girl putting myself on display
and I’m terrified I mean of course I am
I’m in front of a huge audience and I’m
vulnerable but the crowd is not my
biggest worry I’m not only scared to
mess up I’m scared to be sneered at
mocked in my experience when a man
messes up in front of a crowd people
laugh as if to say haha how funny
when a woman messes up she isn’t seen as
funny but is seen as less legitimate
women just aren’t taken as seriously as
men and it’s been this way for hundreds
of years in 17th century Europe when
women tried sharing their ideas during
the Enlightenment men would not listen
to what they had to say instead men
would publish articles about how women
were biologically inferior women were
told to be good daughters good mothers
and good wife
a woman who wanted to pursue an
education was ridiculed men held a
natural dominance and women could never
come close they weren’t supposed to they
weren’t supposed to try they weren’t
supposed to think they could 17th
century Europe was not the only time
that women faced the obstacle of
medicine dominance currently the 2016
fortune 500 list of CEOs was only 4.2
percent female women are not seen as
people who could handle the pressure of
running a business
due to our hormones and are naturally
inferior bodies and minds but why ask
yourself does this make sense does this
percentage sound fair to you why is
there the suspicion that women are
inferior institutional ideas of how the
sexes should behave start young if you
walk down an aisle of a toy store with
toys marketed for boys you’ll see trucks
and tools and things that are considered
manly if you walk down an aisle aimed at
girls you’ll see cooking toys and
cleaning toys and dolls that reflect
unrealistic body standards these toys
tell girls that they’re supposed to cook
and clean and look good well the boys
toys tell them that their shows to build
and be tough my mom didn’t get me only
cooking and cleaning toys i played with
Matchbox cars and plastic tools but I
had my Barbie dolls to the ingrained
idea of a man’s place in a woman’s place
has been around for so long that no one
knows any different or even dares to
question it these gender biases are not
only seen in children’s toys they’re on
our magazine covers two covers for
women’s magazines advertise looking good
from men and pleasing men and not about
women being the best versions of
themselves or expressing themselves as a
girl who grew up insecure about her body
I always thought that I would never find
someone unless I looked better
I felt that I would never be good enough
until I gained a man’s approval I wish I
was only taught to need just my approval
we’re all susceptible to believing this
and it’s so harmful to our
self-confidence
I remember going to a Hannah Montana
concert at age five and thinking that I
could never be famous or accomplish
anything like her unless I was skinnier
and prettier me repeat that I was five
exposing young girls to advertisements
like these is unhealthy because it
pressures them to conform to unrealistic
standards as I thought I had to for so
much of my life like I said before it’s
not our fault that we don’t know to
challenge these gender roles they’ve
been set for so long and we were raised
with them in a PRP in history and we
read a passage written by a woman that
really rubbed me the wrong way here’s a
quote from the passage that I feel is an
accurate summary there is something so
unpleasant in female self-sufficiency
well I was raised by a single mother a
very pleasant self-sufficient female
there was no man to take care of us
my mom’s mother and father raised her to
don’t know how to support herself in the
real world she raised me alone and she
raised me well I know how to fend for
myself I’ve been using tools since I
could hold them and I’ve always had the
motivation to work for myself much like
my mother
personally I don’t want to be a
housewife while my husband works and
provides for the family not that there’s
anything wrong with making that choice
but I am more than a maid and a mother I
am strong and I’m independent and I only
need a man to kill the bugs so what can
we do to stop these imposed gender roles
we need to start young if you have a son
and he wants a doll get him that doll if
you have a daughter and she wants a
racecar get her that racecar raise young
girls to love themselves and take care
of themselves and teach young boys to
respect girls don’t ignore the existence
of sexual abuse don’t impose sexist
dress codes in schools that shame girls
for being comfortable and confident with
who they are telling girls that they
need to cover up so as not to distract
boys tells them that their bodies are
not something of which they should be
proud array
the double standard that a woman who
saves herself from marriage is a prude
but a woman who doesn’t is a stop
shaming men stop praising men for
sleeping with a lot of women when you
turn around and shame girls for doing
the same teach what is polite and what
is crossing a boundary telling someone
they look very nice is polite a man
calling out of his car hey baby nice
rack is crossing a line and threatening
here’s an example of wrong when a much
older man said to my coworker Brandon I
feel bad for all the guys working here I
don’t know how you could focus around
such hot girls well he looked our
co-worker Madison who was 15 at the time
up and down another example of wrong is
when a much older man said to me that if
he was just four years younger he would
fall in love with me he couldn’t have
been more than 50 well less than 50 I
responded with my age which was 15 he
said add a few and then just left in the
time that he was there I had to stay on
the phone with my mother while I took
out the garbage
because he wouldn’t stop staring at me
and I didn’t feel safe in the place I
was working after he left I called my
mom crying from the bathroom
these men are examples of why I’m scared
to go out alone at night and why my mom
worries so much for my safety but most
importantly these men are examples of
why we need to make a change the most
urgent thing we need to do is to show
all generations how to change their
actions ladies put up a fight if someone
says something objectifying or
threatening to you if a man cat calls
you don’t let him get away with it
don’t let him think you don’t mind or
that it’s okay behavior as girls can put
up a fight women should be able to be
themselves and not undo so comfortably
we should be able to challenge men and
not be scared to do so and men don’t
expect women to depend on you understand
the fact that we can be our own person
and run our own lives and treat us with
some respect don’t objectify us and
don’t assume that we want to sleep with
you together we can erase the idea that
feminism is man-hating and that women
are just bodies these are all examples
of
what we need to change how we can do it
and why we need to we are all more than
maids and mothers and objects for men’s
pleasure we are all strong we are all
independent and we are all damn proud to
be women thank you
[Applause]
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