Over 75 registered members strong, Feminism Club is one of the biggest, most active clubs at Lincoln. I sat down to talk with President Sophia Harrison and Vice President Naomi Chun to see what they had to say about local activism, managing lots of people, and making an impact.

Harrison and Chun started Feminism club after realizing there was no place for inclusive, general feminism at Lincoln. Since then, the club has grown made quite the impact on the Lincoln community. When asked how she thinks Feminism Club has most impacted the school, Harrison mentions the awareness events they have put on. She also emphasizes how “the Lincoln community has had impact on a lot of other communities through Feminism Club”, like when students donated to a yearly menstrual product drive, “which I think kind of builds a community if you’re helping other people as a group.” Chun adds that, “I hope that, in the future, we’ll have…a strong community around Feminism Club, and a lot of people eager to participate and make change in our school and community.”

The yearly menstrual product drive is brought up again when Harrison and Chun pick the club project they are most proud of. They’ve done the drive twice and donate all their amassed product to the Jubilee Women’s Center. “Which is a big impact because they don’t get a ton of donations,” Harrison says, “they’ve been really low in the last couple of years…We always get so many donations it’s really impressive to know how many people care about that.” She adds that “now we’re also working on trying to lobby” and that Feminism Club is fundraising to go to DC and talk to legislators about Roe v Wade. “I hope that we can go to DC in the future because that would be really cool,” Chun agrees.

But even though Feminism Club gets amazing support from the student body when running donation drives, they are not free from harassment, even in a school like Lincoln and city like Seattle that both seem to pride themselves on inclusivity and progressivism. “There’s some people that kind of think it’s ridiculous to be involved,” Harrison says, “Like, when we were signing up people at the club fair, there was a person that came up and jokingly signed their friend up…or parents were forcing their kids to join the club. Some people feel like it’s not as important as it really is and that’s something that needs to be pointed out.”

“Yeah, I think that…some people will make a joke out of feminism, I think maybe because it makes them uncomfortable,” Chun adds. Harrison and Chun have both experienced negativity from their fellow students because of their involvement in Feminism Club, in real life and online. One comment on an Instagram post they made about reproductive freedoms with the caption “no uterus, no choice about uteruses”, read “no [expletive], no choice about wearing rubber”. “Feminism isn’t really taken as seriously as it should be, even in a progressive city like Seattle,” Harrison says.

Harrison and Chun still love running the club and believe it is important. “For me, personally, I feel like our biggest impact we’ve made so far is just educating people,” Chun says. Harrison lauds the inclusivity of the club. “If you look at all of our members, it’s a super diverse group of people, from all different background, different genders… We’re not just focused on white feminism or performative feminism, but rather on inclusive feminism.”

“Feminism is for everyone,” says Chun. “It’s not just about women. It’s gender equality.”

If you’re interested in Feminism Club, check them out on the ASB club page or on Instagram at @lincolnfeminismclub. Everyone is welcome and you can be as involved as you want to be or are able to be!