Why Teen Feminists Are The Ones To Watch

For years now, teenagers have been speaking out against the double standards listed in most high school dress codes. The rules for male students typically take up a paragraph or two, while female students are required to follow pages of directions, as if the very sight of their shoulders renders other students incapable of learning.

Fortunately, adolescents have started fighting back against unfair dress codes, often in hilarious ways — and sometimes, they even manage to get the standards changed. How's that for taking action?

There's little data on how many teenagers identify as feminists, but research on young adults indicates that they're far more willing to describe themselves as feminists than middle-aged women are. Furthermore, a national survey by the Washington Post suggests that young women feel more connected to it as a movement; according to the survey's results, nearly 60 percent of young adults agree that feminism focuses on the changes they want. Furthermore, a number of young celebrities, like Rowan Blanchard, aren't afraid to use the word — but more on that later.

Intersectional feminism — a part of feminism that stresses the importance of overlapping identities on someone's experience in the patriarchy — was first coined in the '80s by civil rights advocate Kimberle Crenshaw. Decades later, it became a feminist buzzword, then part of the vernacular; you'd be hard-pressed to find a discussion of gender equality that doesn't mention intersectionality.

The current generation of teenagers has grown up listening to feminists discuss the importance of intersectionality and watching this play out in events like the Women's March. Undoubtedly, this will influence how teenage feminists shape the movement as they age.

Like it or not, it's no secret that celebrities function as role models. Luckily, a growing number of young, female celebrities have openly embraced gender equality. In addition to already-mentioned Rowan Blanchard, Amandla Stenberg has become such a prominent feminist that she spoke with Gloria Steinem for Teen Vogue last fall, and Will Smith's children, Willow and Jaden, are known for breaking down gender barriers and speaking out against cultural appropriation. This is not a generation that will sit by and conform to society.

While there are thousands of blogs out there, if you start paying attention, you'll notice that most are run by younger people. Teenagers run some of the most prominent feminist blogs — take a look at the popularity of Queen Feminist or the thousands of people following trans activist Nicole Maines' Twitter account.

Trangsender people have been present in virtually every society, but there's no question that the current generation of young people understands just how fluid the concept of gender can be. In February, the New York Times reported that nearly 150,000 teenagers between 13 and 17 years old would identify as transgender if survey takers asked. It might not sound like much in terms of the overall population, but it's an indication of teens' overall attitude towards gender these days. There are still enormous obstacles facing the transgender community, of course, but as transgender activist Janet Mock wrote in the New York Times, adults are usually the ones to have a problem with nontraditional gender identities.

Although politics is seen as the pursuit of older people, a number of teenagers have emerged as the new faces of feminism. On top of celebrities like Stenberg and Blanchard, young activists like Jazz Jennings, Sophie Thomas, Lili Evans, and dozens of others have become integral to the movement. I don't know about you, but I'm excited to see what happens next.