“Fat pigs,” “dogs,” “bimbos,”  and “disgusting animals” are all the words that President- elect Donald Trump has used to describe women. This level of misogyny cannot be tolerated, nor should it be considered acceptable since he has risen to the presidency. Throughout history, women have been considered subservient to men, but times are changing. The movement promoting gender equality starts right here and is happening right now. Throughout the halls of WY, a group of students is working together to inform and educate others about the importance of gender equality.

Carolina Cannon ‘17 and several of her friends started Acting for Gender Equality, AGE for short, at WY last year. The club has meetings twice a month and then participates in an interactive event such as a service project or a talk from a guest speaker. Meetings are held on the first Wednesday of every month and consist of group discussions on a given theme. The theme for this past October was education inequality. In addition to in-depth discussions, members had the privilege of listening to their guest speaker, Ruby Bridges, who is famously known as the girl who desegregated schools in New Orleans in 1960. 

The idea for the club came to Carolina in her English III class sophomore year. She was studying British warfare literature, and her assignment was to apply what she was reading to her own life: mediate a form of violence in Chicago. Carolina decided to create a proposal for combating gender discrimination by raising awareness. Inspired by the idea, Mr. Tavolacci encouraged Carolina to make this happen. Carolina and her friends started this club because they noticed that “in our school people would say microaggressions or not understand the wage gap and not really understand what feminism is fighting for. Therefore, we created it to raise awareness but also keep the school community accountable for how they treat each other.”

AGE has made amazing progress in the last year. They partnered up with the Cook County commissioner Bridget Gainer, and together they hosted the Young Feminist Conference this past summer. Marcy Barnes ‘19 said, “It was an empowering experience to be in a room with so many experienced and successful women.” There were three panels: Feminism through the Generations, Chicago Activism, and Know Your Rights. They were able to get guest speakers from around the City of Chicago, and over 200 women of all ages attended this incredible event. Zoe Strong ‘17 said “All the people willing to share stories and help further my career made me more confident.”  AGE is accepting to anyone, and their only request is for participants to come to each meeting with an open mind.