"I wanted to start a website for teenaged girls that was not kind of this one-dimensional strong character empowerment thing, because one thing that can be very alienating about a misconception of feminism in that girls then think that to be feminists they have to live up to being perfectly consistent in their beliefs, never being insecure, never having doubts, having all the answers. . . and this is not true and actually recognizing all the contradictions I was feeling became easier once I realized that feminism was not a rulebook but a discussion, a conversation, a process." -Tavi Gevinson


I love this. I spend most of my time following feminist trends, 'women's issues', pop culture, and anything else relevant to gender and U.S women's culture, and it seems that feminism and women's issues are moving in a definite direction towards understanding and representation of women as complex imperfect PEOPLE. Whether its the body activists, television shows, internet discussion, the backlash against over photoshopped, unrealistic depictions of women, the continual discussion I hear women having about the complexities of their identities mired in feelings of insecurity and security,or the personal battles over the push and pull of multiple discourses, it seems to be the issue of my generation. Feminism today is a discussion, its subjective, and very personal, and yet it is also public because this issue of validity in identity resonates in all of us. We just want to be understood, accepted, and acknowledged, and not belittled or ostracized at every turn.  The personal is public, because what is at the core of all our experience is unity, and what unites us is the need to be seen as complex individuals. I really think this is the new site for feminism, and is being played out not only on the internet, through websites like Tavi's, but also discussed in women's day to day conversation.