A recent campaign on Facebook called, Who Needs Feminism? has sparked some controversy all over the web. Originally started by 16 women who attend Duke University, they created this campaign to combat the negative images that resonate with people when they hear the world feminism:

“Identify yourself as a feminist today and many people will immediately assume you are man-hating, bra-burning, whiny liberal. Perhaps a certain charming radio talk show host will label you as a “Feminazi” or “S**t.” Even among more moderate crowds, feminism is still seen as too radical, too uncomfortable, or simply unnecessary. Feminism is both misunderstood and denigrated regularly on a broad societal scale.”

Inspired by a Women in the Public Sphere course at Duke University, these 16 young women have decided to fight back and teach people what they believe it truly means to be a feminist.  The idea that many people believe we don’t need feminism anymore is frightening. Women are still degraded and objectified in the media, women are still not given equal pay even though many exceed most men in education, women are still being told what they can and can’t do with their own bodies. Simply put, we’re still getting the short end of the stick.

What I really like about this campaign is that it allows women and men who are usually not the face of feminism to have a voice. Middle class white woman have always been the main vehicle for feminism, which has somewhat excluded women of color, queer identified people, and transgender people.  I also like that men are entering into the conversation, because feminism isn’t about the equality of just women, but men too.

Even now, when you ask people what they think a feminist is, they will most likely think of some radical white woman who doesn’t shave and hates all men. When in actuality, people like me, a 21-year old black female in college, identifies as a feminist/womanist.

As great as feminism is, why do women of color have to create another movement to gain recognition? Why is it that in 2012, we still have to question this? As a young black feminist, I sometimes find myself outside of the conversation. I attend the meetings of my college’s feminism group and the lack of faces that look like mine is staggering. Many women of color either feel feminism isn’t for them and/or feel that the issues that pertain to them don’t get addressed, so they wonder why they need to get involved.

It’s nice to see college students take the initiative to tackle an important issue, I just hope in the future that more young black women will feel confident enough to call themselves feminists.

Do you believe we still need feminism? Does feminism play a part in your life?

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Joseph Kony - Source: newsi7.com

If you’ve been seeing anything on your social media that says “Kony 2012″ or #stopkony, you might be wondering just what the heck or who the heck a “Kony” is. If you were indeed wondering, you should know that Kony refers to Ugandan warlord Joseph Kony. He is the head of the guerrilla group Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA), which has kidnapped thousands of Ugandan children and forced them to become child soldiers. He has also caused the displacement of thousands of people, and his team has been responsible for a number of killings, rapes and more in Central Africa. While he has been a threat for years, and President Obama has tried to send troops to find him in the past, Kony has somehow been able to evade capture.

Though the LRA has allegedly been around since ’87, people are making Joseph Kony’s name an internationally known one this week after a video by film maker Jason Russell for the group Invisible Children was recently released about Kony. They were hoping that the video would increase U.S. involvement in the issue. But whether or not the government gets involved, it seems as though the people are ready. The more notoriety he gets from his bad deeds, the more likely Invisible Children believes he will be taken down.

The goal for right now, however, is to get the word out so that on April 20, supporters can put posters around where they live (wherever that is) that call for Kony to be brought to justice. The posters they have in mind say, “Kony 2012: ‘Stop at Nothing.’” No word yet on what the next step would be after the big poster posting event…According to ABC News, Invisible Children says people can support by going to their website, buying T-shirts, bracelets and posters, donating, or you can simply go to the site and sign their pledge.

If you want to know more about Joseph Kony, you can actually check out the 30-minute film by Jason Russell below and spread the word. Check it out if you haven’t already:

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