Women's Empowerment Week keynote speaker talks about feminism today
The feminist movement today is about more than just gender, award-winning blogger Vanessa Valenti said to an audience in Anspach Hall on Tuesday.
"While (feminism) has a way to go, it is kind of getting away from just being a gender issue," she said. "Immigration is a feminist issue. Men and masculinity is a feminist issue. Transgender is a feminist issue. As feminists, I believe it is our responsibility to be a part of these changes."
Valenti, a co-founder of feministing.com and self-proclaimed feminist online evangelist, was the Women's Empowerment Week keynote speaker at Central Michigan University.
"Vanessa is a predominant feminist that we talk about in Organization of Women Leaders, so I took a shot in the dark and emailed her," OWL President Ashley Sheetz, a St. Clair Shores junior, said. "It's exciting to have her here."
Valenti first focused on the impact the Internet has had on the feminist movement and how just years earlier, feminism was nonexistent online.
Valenti and her business partner got their start by creating feministing.com in April 2004 after noticing this gap online. The two decided their website would bring the issue of feminism into the spotlight for all of the digital world.
The Internet, Valenti said, is where most young people today are going to look for information regarding feminism.
"I truly believe the Internet is where young feminists in this country are finding their information," she said.
Social media has become a game changer for the feminist field, she said.
"Social media has given us more power than we thought we had and more power than we have ever had before," Valenti said. "Now, not only can we participate, but we can create."
Valenti also stressed the importance of humor when dealing with critics of feminism.
"(Humor) allows us to respond to the ridiculous sexism we're constantly bombarded with," Valenti said. "It's a great survival tool for individuals who are committed to fighting against injustice."
Valenti hopes the feminist way of thinking will begin to shift toward being more proactive and taking steps toward making positive changes.
"I want the feminist movement to move away from being reactive to being proactive, to stop focusing on problems and focus on solutions," she said. "We need to create legislation instead of constantly fighting against it."
For Lake View sophomore Mariah Higgins, Valenti's presentation brought to light her studies in the classroom and inspired her to learn more.
"My professor was talking about Vanessa in my class, so it's nice to relate it to the course," Higgins said. "It really cemented some of my ideas and has me wanting to learn more"
