Lincoln East’s Feminist Club began during the 2021-2022 school year and hit the ground running. The club has had a surplus of members since its origin. Last year, the club’s most known project was its mission of putting free feminine hygiene products in the bathrooms of East. Many menstrual products aren’t cheap or accessible to women, making this movement highly impactful. The project was praised, with many students expressing gratitude throughout the year for the easily accessible products.

With the first year of the club being extremely rigorous and achieving sizable accomplishments, the goals for the club this year and involvement by new members is an important aspect to focus on.

“This year Feminist Club is hoping to do more volunteer work, expand our membership, and have more speakers come to East,” Cassidy Bell, a member of Feminist Club, said.

During 2022-2023, club members hope to increase involvement and pursuits on all levels.

“For me, I would like to get more people to join the club meetings so we can have more conversations about current events and various topics,” Emily Nieman, another member of Feminist Club, said. “The other officers are contacting individuals to come and speak at the meetings.”

The Feminist Club has taken many steps into defining what the actual meaning of being a feminist is, or what that looks like in real world situations.

“A long-term goal I have for this club is to destigmatize the term feminist in our school,” Nieman said.

Many people who define themselves as feminists have received backlash or mockery from groups who are not educated on what the term means. Feminism, in definition is, “the advocacy of women’s rights on the basis of the equality of the sexes.”

The Feminist Club is the ultimate segue for many of the members to open up a conversation about the importance of equality in our school.

“My favorite memory is when we went to the Roe rally as well as making signs at the meeting before,” Nieman said. “We got to meet a lot of great people including Patty Pansing Brooks.”

To students at East, being a part of the Feminist Club means not only standing up for what they believe in, but also spreading awareness and making the community conscious of their efforts.