In honor of this year’s Women’s History Month, Coven staff writers Marla Hiller and Taya Coates have compiled a list of their favorite feminist activists and movements. While this list is certainly not exhaustive, these individuals have provided meaning to our current feminist climate and informed our own feminist journeys. As our definitions and understandings of feminism continue to evolve and change, it is important to recognize both our long-standing feminist history as well as its current trailblazers, going beyond iconic activists like Gloria Steinem and Angela Davis to expand the conversation. These women continue to pave the way for women everywhere, standing up for equality and against injustice. Below, you can learn more about their work, where to find them, and why their efforts mean so much.

WOMEN AND THE LAW

“People are more than just what happened to them. It’s what you do about it.” — Amanda Nguyen (@amandangocnguyen), Founder of Rise, for Forbes.

Although she is only 30 years old, Nguyen has checked off a lifetime’s worth of accomplishments. She created the first student-written course at Harvard, ‘Modern Slavery, Societies of the World,’ in 2009. After her graduation in 2013, she interned at NASA and then went to work as the Deputy White House Liaison for the U.S. Department of State. While she continues to work towards her goal of becoming an astronaut, she also fights for changing the world for victims of sexual assault. After a personal experience in 2014, she founded Rise, an organization working to correct the legal obstacles survivors have to overcome. Just two years later, the organization’s proposed Sexual Assault and Survivor’s Rights Act passed unanimously through Congress. Since then, Rise has passed 33 laws to date, making it the most successful legislative reform movement in U.S. history. Nguyen has received many accolades for her contributions, including being on the Forbes “30 Under 30” list twice.

Now that the non-profit has passed federal legislation in the U.S., Rise is currently working on a UN proposal to secure survivors’ rights as human rights around the world. Rise also created Rise Justice Labs, an acceleration program to help causes get legislation passed with the right tools and connections. This past month, she has been one of the most outspoken voices on social media drawing attention to the recent spike in violence against Asain-Americans.

“Of course I am optimistic for the future. I have no doubt that equality will prevail, because without equality you cannot have peace and love, and without peace and love life is empty.”  — Nasrin Sotoudeh, Human Rights Lawyer, 2014 interview with Arseh Sevom

Sotoudeh has been changing the world for women since the beginning of her career. After getting her Master’s degree in International Law, she passed the bar in Iran in 1995. Due to sexism, she was not able to practice law until 2003. One of her most notable accomplishments has been in representing female activists protesting against the mandatory veiling laws in Iran. She’s also represented minors who were on death row, as Iran ignores the UN’s Universal Declaration of Human Rights’ policy against sentencing minors to death. In March 2019, after an unfair trial, Sotoudeh was sentenced to 33 years in prison and 148 lashes for her activism. Since then, she has been in and out of the hospital due to a 46-day hunger strike. She began her strike in August 2020 to protest the continued imprisonment of activists despite the unsafe spread of COVID-19 in prisons. Sotoudeh’s strike caused her health to dramatically deteriorate, resulting in her temporary furlough in November 2020. In December 2020, she was forced to return to prison two weeks prior to a doctor’s recommendation.

Sotoudeh is still fighting for her freedom today. You can sign this petition to aid in her release from prison here.

WRITERS

“I believe feminism is grounded in supporting the choices of women, even if we wouldn’t make certain choices for ourselves.” - Roxane Gay (@rgay), author of Bad Feminist. 

The entirety of Roxane Gay’s book Bad Feminist has informed large parts of my own feminism and how I explain what feminism means to me. For a long time, I looked down on the color pink, dresses, and “girly” girls. They weren’t like me because I was strong, brave, and smart. In my world, wearing pink and getting good grades were mutually exclusive. I even went as far as to actively seek out male friends since girls were “too much drama.” As I grew older and began to think about my adult life, I scorned stay-at-home-moms, thinking they were stuck in the 1950s and wasting their potential. 

Bad Feminist, and specifically this quote, forced me to think about why dresses and makeup became synonymous with anti-feminism. My personal life choices and career aspirations were not the only way to practice feminism. Just because I do not know whether or not I want children does not mean women and girls who want those things are any less than me. As long as female-identifying individuals have the opportunity to pursue the life they want, then that is what matters. Feminism is a complicated concept and there is no clear definition. But, what I know now to be true, thanks to Roxane Gay, is that feminism means supporting women, regardless of position, status, or life expereince. As feminists, we cannot isolate certain groups and exclude them from the movement; every woman’s voice matters. 

“This is not a men vs. women issue. It’s about people vs. prejudice.” —Laura Bates (@laura_bates__), Founder and Author of Everyday Sexism

As explained in an interview with The Guardian, after dealing with many uncomfortable situations, "She began asking every woman she met if she had ever experienced sexism. "I honestly thought people would say: 'Oh, well, yeah, there was this one thing that happened to me four years ago," but it just wasn't like that. Not a single woman said no, she hadn't. It was more like: 'Well, on my way here to meet you …' or 'And yesterday at work.' I couldn't believe it." Bates knew that each individual testimony had greater potential. In 2012, she founded the Everyday Sexism Project, a website to document and share experiences of sexism in a safe space. The site was so successful that after its first year, it expanded from the UK to 17 countries around the world. The website went beyond a discussion platform and created a community for women of all ages. In 2014, the followers of the website successfully rallied for the removal of a Barbie plastic surgery app due to the damage it can cause to young girls. Her 2013 TED Talk on the impact of her work has over one million views to date. Bates is credited with being one of the forerunners of the “Fourth Wave” of feminism and was awarded a British Empire Medal in the Queen's Honours List for her work to foster gender equality. After the success of the site, Bates began to write her own books and cover feminist topics for The New York Times, The Guardian, and other well-known publications.

On March 1, Bates’ fifth book, Men Who Hate Women, was released in U.S retailers. She is scheduled to release The Trial, a new YA novel, in September 2021.

MOVEMENTS

“There is no comfort in activism.”—Tamika Mallory (@tamikadmallory), Co-Founder of the Women’s March, via Twitter.

Coven writer Taya Coates with Tamika Mallory, Carmen Perez, and Linda Sarsour at the 2017 Women’s March protest for justice for Philando Castile.

Mallory was born with activism in her veins. Her parents’ work with Al Sharpton’s historic National Action Network inspired her to get involved from the age of 11. In 2009, Mallory made history as the youngest executive director of NAN. Continuing her work as an advocate for issues that affect the Black community, Mallory created the NYC Crisis Management System for gun violence prevention as a member of New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio’s transition committee. After that stage in her work, she turned to co-found the Women’s March alongside Linda Sarsour, Carmen Perez, and Bob Bland; on January 21, 2017, their efforts resulted in the largest single-day demonstration in history. The history-making Women’s March on Washington was a landmark demonstration against the Trump presidency and a harsh rebuke of the misogyny that plagued his campaign and later, administration. This huge accomplishment could not have been for a better cause than for intersectional women’s rights and equality. Mallory is best known for her inspiring speeches at the marches and other events.

This past summer, Mallory was on the front lines of the Black Lives Matter protests with the Until Freedom organization. They are one of the leading organizations still rallying and pressing for justice for Breonna Taylor.

“Movements create possibility, and they are built on vision.”—Tarana Burke (@TaranaBurke), Founder of the #MeToo Movement, in her 2018 TED Talk.

Burke started her activism early, working with a youth development initiative called 21st Century as a child growing up in the Bronx. A survivor herself, Burke began to realize how many people around her were impacted by sexual violence and decided to coin the term “Me Too” back in 2007 to form a welcoming community of support for survivors who once, due to the taboo of talking about sexual assault, were alone. By Spring 2017, #MeToo was everywhere. The media coverage rightfully centered around the experiences of victims but forgot to acknowledge the founder of the movement at all. It is particularly interesting that white men such as Harvey Weinstein became the center of a conversation created by a Black woman. On top of that, actress Alyssa Milano’s unintentional colonization of the term pulled the initiative even further from its roots. Milano graciously corrected her misstep by publicly giving Burke credit on Good Morning America a few days after her tweet. For her amazing work, Burke was named Person of the Year by Time’ in 2017.

In February, Burke announced her new initiative, ‘We, As Ourselves’ to tackle the terrain of redefining the image of Black survivors. This program is a partnership between #MeToo, the National Women’s Law Center, and the Time’s Up Foundation.

IN THE MEDIA

"Sometimes I worry I wouldn’t be such a feminist if I had bigger tits," Fleabag (@fleabag), Fleabag season 2, episode 4

The protagonist of Fleabag, Fleabag herself, narrates her everyday life, touching on many themes, such as love, grief, and self-esteem. The most impactful theme, however, is Fleabag’s reflections on feminism as it comes up in her life. Not only is it a funny and memorable line, it is thought provoking. Her words raise the question about what a good feminist is, and if feminism is a movement exclusively for women who feel like they do not fit the steretypical norm. As someone who wears DD bras, I can safely say that the movement includes women who please the male gaze and that feminism extends far beyond physical appearance. As Roxanne Gay says: even women who look exactly how the patriarchy wants them to (thin, white, big boobs, blonde, blue-eyed) can be feminists and deserve a place in the movement. Are these women the group that feminists need to fight hardest for? No. But excluding them from feminism only weakens the movement and further instills a competitive disparate mindset deeply ingrained in patriarchal ideology. 

THE BOTTOM LINE

Feminism is an ever-growing movement that continues to evolve and requires hard work with an intersectional approach to our daily lives. Being a feminist is an ever-changing identity that must allow for and create a space to constantly reflect, grow, expand, and further one’s knowledge. The women who Coven have highlighted only begin to scratch the surface of the impact women, activists or not, are making across the globe. 

Coven continues to be committed to providing a platform that uplifts the voices of women everywhere.

By Taya Coates and Marla Hiller

Taya: VCU student, sunset enthusiast, and proud feminist passionate about making the world a better place.

Marla: La Croix obsessed, coffee addicted, podcast fanatic.