How to write a “young women don’t care about feminism” article

Need some easy content for the Lifestyle section of your publication? Why not write about how young women don’t care about feminism! It’s quick and easy – people have been writing basically the same article for years now. Here, I’ll walk you through the steps, using this recent USA Today piece as an example.

Start out with the obvious – feminism used to be a big deal, but now young women don’t know about it. Make sure to follow this up with a mention of bra burning (USA Today did say this is a myth, which is really more nuance than is needed here). Quote an older feminist, in this case NOW president Terry O’Neill, talking about how young women have been scared off by the backlash. This article has a double whammy – there’s a dissapointing Michael Kimmel quote about young women thinking feminism is over, too. From here we move into an anecdote from a young woman about how she or her friends aren’t feminists. You just don’t see feminist activism today – avoid any mentions of the rallies to save Planned Parenthood, and only bring up SlutWalk if you follow that up with some quality slut-shaming.

The USA Today article ends with a discussion about how the problem is the word “feminism,” which is fine or whatever. But that space could be better used by arguing that young women today are just interested in being slutty sluts who slut. The accompanying photo is a missed opportunity, as well: it depicts a group of young women sitting around a table, eating and talking. They appear to all be white, so at least something’s right. But the appropriate illustration here is floozies and harlots out on the town in mini skirts and high heels, or a picture of boobs from SlutWalk.