Published Mar. 7, 2023
BY SOPHIA BONE
In the spirit of Women’s History Month, the Carmel High School Feminist Club will be hosting a showcase titled “Rise Up: A Feminist Exhibition of Career Empowerment and Personal Growth” in the CHS performing arts center on March 10, including exhibits of feminist art and live performances from CHS students and locals alike.
“It’s about how people find empowerment in what they do,” says Feminist Club co-president Mya Schnader. “Whether they are a restaurant owner or an artist or an author, just how they found empowerment in what they do in their field.”
Starting at 5 p.m., the lobby of the theater will have booths where local businesswomen can showcase their work and art pieces before the main event begins. From 6 to 8 p.m. in the theater, there will be performances, individuals sharing their journey on stage, a recognition of female student-athletes and a documentary-style film on feminism and how people respond to the term. Live performances will include CHS band, orchestra and dance students.
“We are trying to get female musicians or poets,” mentions fellow Feminist Club co-president Katie Shin. “We just want to showcase different talents from the school and local community.”
The idea began during one of the Feminist Club’s weekly seminar-style Friday meetings. Typically, these meetings consist of the 30 to 35 students in the club discussing current issues or being taught by club adviser Philip Crawford, who has a bachelor’s degree in Women’s Studies from University of California, Santa Cruz, where he studied subjects including the history of feminism.
A discussion started about possibly doing a showcase one Friday in Room 33, and since then, the club has been reaching out to local businesses and individuals about sharing their experiences at the showcase.
“Feminism is for everyone, it has no gender,” says Schnader, who hopes that this potentially annual showcase will bring awareness to many of her peers. “There is quite a misconception and stigma about what feminism is on campus. A lot of people think that it is ‘women are better than men,’ but really it is, ‘We want women to be equal with men.’”
Seniors Schnader, Shin and Julia Blakely have spearheaded the planning for the showcase.
The Feminist Club was started in January 2022 and has organized a CHS version of the “Take Back the Night” walk in 2022, an activity commonly done at universities to “reclaim” their campus and make it a safe space for students once again. Group members have also written to a local newspaper about an article that they believed to be sexist, questioning why the paper focused on a female athlete’s collegiate male family members instead of the athlete herself. The letter was met with mostly positive responses from the newspaper, and since then the club has recognized a change in reporting.
Feminist Club members highly encourage all to attend the March 10 showcase.
