Breakout Students Introduce Photo Campaign, Princeton Feminists

Princeton Feminists, a project created by students from the Breakout trip “Sex, Sexism, and Sexuality in the 21st Century,” is asking students to show their support for feminism this week in Frist.Breakout participants have set up a table with white boards titled “#I’maFeministBecause” and “#MyFeminismIs.” Students are encouraged to complete the hashtag and take a photo with their boards, which are uploaded to the Princeton Feminists website.Sophomores Vanessa Phan and Melanie Ho led the 2015 fall trip to New York City, where students spoke with organizations including International Planned Parenthood Fun, Equality NOW, Women’s World Banking and the Ms. Foundation for Women.Participants decided to bring some of theses conversations back to campus by starting a photo campaign, similar in style to the photo campaigns previously carried out by ODS and the Princeton Perspectives Project, Phan said. 

  

“For me, the point of this campaign isn't just to raise awareness of gender issues, but also to bring in people who disagree with feminism and to create a conversation that will lead to a better understanding of the issues at hand,” Phan said.Over 100 students have already participated within the first two days, freshman campaign leader Jamie O’Leary said. The group’s website displays all photos taken so far.“This is good for people who are afraid of the label ‘feminist’ just because it has a lot of stigma today,” freshman volunteer Josie Baltimore said. “Because there are a lot of people doing it, there’s a sense of anonymity, but you are also identifying your own definition.”The event will run in Frist through the end of this week during late meal lunch and dinner. To see photos of students’ responses, visit princetonfeminists.wordpress.com.

-FRB