Dear young and future feminists;

Welcome.

Image from OWP website. [Alt text: A front-on photo of Madeline Price, a white womxn with blonde hair and blue eyes, smiling into the camera.]

Welcome to a community that has existed for generations. A community of girls, women, non-binary, trans, femme, gender non-conforming and gender diverse folk, all dedicated to justice, equality and liberation. A community built off the activism, passion, energy and work of First Nations and Indigenous folk, communities of colour, sex workers, Black and Bla(c)k folk, LGBTIQ2A+ communities, working-class people, unions, people with a disability and more (often without acknowledgment, support or recognition of their work).

But also, a community who has whitewashed and Western-washed our history. A community who has forgotten the activists and activism that came before us. A community that remembers those white, middle-class suffragettes/suffragists (like Millicent Fawcett or Susan B. Anthony), but forgets the impacts made by Ida B. Wells, Sarah Parker Remond, Sojourner Truth or Mary Church Terrell. A community that champions Gloria Steinem, but forgets Dorothy Pitman Hughes, Ai-Jen Poo, Vivek Shraya, Miroslava Breach, Marielle Franco, Noxolo Nogwaza and Hande Kader. A community that remembers Germaine Greer, Edith Cowan and Julia Gillard, but forgets Margaret Valadian, Faith Thomas, Dulcie Flower and Aileen Moreton-Robinson.

A community that paints our history as one of struggle and liberation, of fights against the system, yet hides the militant amongst us, those who were tired of fighting ‘politely’: Princess Sophia Duleep Singh, Annie Kenney, Sushama Sen, Alice Henry, Sylvia Rivera, Judith (Judy) Heumann and Emily Davison.

A community which remembers the history we want to recall and hides the problematic: those who took the fight too far, those who were not progressive enough and those who directed the focus of the movement away from intersectional perspectives.

My first piece of advice to you, young and future feminists, is simple: learn and remember your history.

Discover the true history of our movement: the key activists, the forgotten activists, the ones who weren’t called activists, the protests, the rallies, the arson, the imprisonment, the interactions with other social justice and civil rights movements. Read and learn the laws pre and post change, listen to the lived experiences of the feminists who came before, watch their films and documentaries and stories. Explore where the movement has split – where we forgot our roots in migrant, LGBTIQ2A+, Black/Bla(c)k, disability, union and sex worker activism and instead pushed a white, liberal, individualist ideal. Find the pockets where the movement has come together, to fight for justice, liberation and equality for all.

Critique, but don’t erase, the stories of those feminists who took the fight too far, or who were not progressive enough or who directed the focus of the movement away from intersectional perspectives. Critique and learn from, but don’t erase them, because those who erase their history are doomed to repeat it (and we have more than enough TERFs, SWERFs, Lean In/white/liberal feminists and carceral feminists in positions of power to handle right now).

Learn, critique and remember your history for two simple reasons: to build the movement greater, and to give you hope.

And that, young and future feminists, is my second piece of advice: do not lose hope.

Throughout your feminism, there will be miniscule pockets of hope: from that family member correcting themselves mid-sentence to use ‘sex worker’ instead of a slur, to a new friend introducing themself with their pronouns (and asking for yours, unprompted).

There will be small pockets of hope: a larger-than-expected turnout at the local Reclaim the Night rally, the acceptance of an outspoken intersectional feminist on the local council, or the unopposed establishment and unrestricted funding of a refuge or shelter in a local community.

There will be large pockets of hope: I can still remember the unbridled feeling of joy and the exhausted weight leaving my body when we won the decriminalisation of abortion in Queensland (the fight is still not yet over for full access to reproductive health services, but steps forward were made). Or the internal pain giving way to hope for a better future, when the results of the same-sex marriage plebiscite rolled in (although the reminder still stands, as noted by Cleve Jones that “the basic human rights of any group of people should never be subjected to a popular vote”).

And, hopefully – and I do not share this lightly, I hope beyond hope – that there will be enormous pockets of hope in your lifetime: the dismantling of white supremacist, patriarchal, capitalist settler states, perhaps? Or the return of First Nations lands into First Nations hands? Or, perhaps, the basic understanding in our society, systems, structures and culture that intersectional feminism is the path forward.

Young and future feminists, hold on to every pocket of hope you can gather, because you will need them for this fight. Hold on tight to the hope that you will need, in order to continue each and every day.

And that, young and future feminists, leads me to my final piece of advice, which is simple: keep fucking fighting.

I know it isn’t fair that those with the least access to power, those experiencing multitudes of oppression, and those impacted most by unjust systems are responsible for pushing the movement forwards to justice, liberation and equality, but please, please keep doing it.

We are not there yet: our planet is burning, our structures and systems of imprisonment and border control are increasing, our personal freedoms and human rights are being taken away every single day, and we need every feminist we have got.

Young and future feminists, we need you. The fight continues in your hands.

In solidarity and with love, joy, hope and belief.

Yours always,

Madeline