In the Merriam-Webster dictionary, feminism is defined as “the belief that men and women should have equal rights and opportunities”.
Before school on Tuesday mornings, outgoing and communicative LHS students gather to discuss these issues.
The two leaders, junior Alison Potter and junior Jacklyn Drewry, start the meeting by giving a topic and discussing it. Topics can vary from the dress code to the name “Lady Jays.” Each meeting’s discussion is a different form of equality issue.
“Today, we decide, Jacklyn and I, to talk about the perception around what’s deemed girl and boy appropriate for school activities in particular,” junior Alison Potter said.
Each week a different topic is chosen by the leaders. Not only are women’s equality issues a large and controversial topic to talk about, but the topic of equality is as well. Women’s Issues Now is a club not only dedicated to women’s issues, but issues all over the world with both men and women.
“We provide a discussion platform for students, male, female, all genders to discuss issues generally focused on social issues and on gender perception,” Potter said.
The leaders and club members are devoted to getting what they call an “honest and true” opinion of what feminism is.
“I think a lot of people at LHS have a really negative opinion of what feminism is and that’s because they hear a lot of vocal “feminists” that aren’t really feminist. They don’t advocate for real feminist issues,” senior Sadie Jess said.
“They are men’s issues and women’s issues. Feminism is about gender roles and their power on both females and males. I think that if we can educate people on what feminism is that we will have a really good impact on LHS.”
The club leaders created the club because they feel as though there was a lack of discussing the issues in women’s equality and equality overall.
“We started [WIN] because we felt there was a lack of dialogue and platform to have dialogue on issues plaguing our society and prohibiting social growth,” junior Jacklyn Drewry said.
The club uses an open discussion based platform, meaning people can openly express their feelings about the topic without having to feel criticized about what was said.
“Each meeting is structured where we talk about an issue and we just go around and contribute to the conversation and we let the conversation go wherever it goes,” Jess said.
Members of the club feel welcomed with open arms.
“What I like about this club is that everyone is very welcoming and we all kind of have the same opinion on certain topics,” sophomore Diana Tran said. “I feel like it’s easy to express our feelings on specific topics without feeling criticized.”
Each member had a different reason for joining the club. Some joined to talk about their rights, some to see what the club would be like and some because people they know joined the club.
“I’m really passionate about my rights and I think that everyone else should be passionate about everyone’s rights and having equality everywhere,” junior Annika Fuller said. “I think it’s a really good discussion topic for high schoolers because this is where are minds are molded during these years. I think it’ll be good and interesting.”
Women’s Issues Now meets Tuesday and 7:20 a.m. in room 905 Mrs. Meade’s room topics can vary from the dress code to the name “Lady Jays”. Members can include any gender and any grade and are welcome to join at anytime.