Her Campus American: Introduce yourself!
Jordan Peebles: My name is Jordan Peebles, I’m a sophomore majoring in International Studies and minoring in Spanish. I’m in the Honors Program and the SPA Leadership Program here. I’m from Voorhees, NJ which is a small town in southern NJ, about 20 minutes outside of Philadelphia.
HCAU: How did you come up with the idea for Feminists at AU?
JP: Something I see as a huge problem is the stigmatization of feminists. People often think feminists have to be extremists who burn their bras and hate all men, but that’s not the case. Feminists simply want equality. So, I wanted to do something to fix the problem. Instead of hosting a one-time event or workshop about feminism, I wanted to create an online community that would reach the greatest amount of people who currently do not associate as a feminist or who misunderstand what the definition of feminism is. To do so, I created the Feminists of AU Facebook page which allows AU students and community members to share why they are feminists or what feminism means to them.
HCAU: Why did you specifically choose feminists to focus on, rather than other groups on campus?
JP: I think there are a lot of different “_____s of AU” pages that could be made, and that would all be super cool. However, I wanted to focus on feminists because of the prevalence of the problem I described above. At first, I thought since AU is a pretty liberal school, everyone here would already understand feminism and self-identify as a feminist, but after doing some research I found out that that is not at all the case. Most people here do believe in equality, but some are afraid to call themselves feminists because of the stigma the word holds.
HCAU: How do you select the people you will feature on your page?
JP: I have reached out to a variety of different clubs and individuals to ensure that I get some diversity on the page. I don’t want to only feature people in Greek life, or all people in SG, or all females, I try to get a variety of different people involved in different things on campus. That way, the largest amount of people can be reached, because when someone sees their friend, or someone in the same club as them tagged in the post, they’ll check out the page!
HCAU: Have you had any difficulty with finding men who are willing to be featured?
JP:I have specifically made it a point to get men featured on the page because it is important for men to know that they are an important part in the fight towards equality. Most of the men I have reached out to have been more than willing to be featured on the page, which I appreciate. Perhaps I am just reaching out to the right men, but so far so good!
HCAU: What do you hope to accomplish with Feminists of AU?
JP: I want to start a dialogue about feminism, and how it is not a scary or extremist movement. I think often times people are afraid to talk about feminism because of the negative stigma it carries. I also want people who don’t self-identify as feminists to look at the page and think “Oh, if ____ say’s he/she is a feminist, maybe I am too.”
HCAU: What other feminism/gender equality organizations are you a part of/do you plan to continue working in this field in the future?
JP: Last summer I interned at Dress for Success, which is an international non-profit focused on empowering disadvantaged women. It was this internship that really fueled my interest in advocating for the equality of women! I would love to have another internship in this field during my junior year, and to carry this passion into my eventual career! I am also a first-year TA in the SPA Leadership Program for the Gender and Sexuality issue group. My students will be hosting an Awareness Wall Event focused on ending rape culture on April 15th!
HCAU: If you were to be featured on your own page, what are your personal thoughts on feminism that you’d share?
JP: I definitely have a lot to say, but I think I’d share something along the lines of- “Before you say you’re not a feminist, look up the definition of the word. If you still think you’re not a feminist, then you have greater issues to deal with, but if you believe that people should not be treated differently based on their gender identification, then surprise: you are a feminist by the definition.” OR “The term “feminazi” equates a group of people who seek the equality of all people with a group who orchestrated the systematic murder of over 11 million people. I’m pretty sure there’s a distinct difference between these two groups of people.” (the term femi-nazi is one of my BIGGEST pet peeves)
Image courteousy of Jordan Peebles