Rethinking Modern Feminism

Year 9 student Serena was one of only 11 finalists in the highly competitive Junior Secondary Speaking Award state final, delivering a speech designed to challenge her audience to think more deeply about feminism in the age of social media.

Rather than seeking an easy topic, she titled her speech 'Fake Choice', taking aim at what she calls "choice feminism" — the increasingly popular idea that any choice a woman makes is inherently empowering, even when it reinforces traditional gender roles.

"One day, I was scrolling through TikTok, per usual, when I stumbled upon a very curious video," an opening technique that drew her audience into familiar territory before challenging their assumptions. The video featured an influencer celebrating her decision to become a housewife as a feminist choice, with comments calling her a "girlboss" and an "icon".

But Serena wasn't convinced. She argued that what appears to be choice feminism - the idea that any choice a woman makes is inherently feminist, can actually be harmful to both feminism and women themselves. "Many of these choices are not real choices at all," she told her audience. "They are the direct result of years of conditioning that shape women's behaviour".

Serena went on to examine why choice feminism has become so popular, suggesting it is partly because "choice feminism is easy" and partly because "companies have capitalist incentives to advertise choice feminism over other forms of feminism". She pointed to beauty companies using feminist language to promote their products as an example of how feminism can become commodified. “I wish the answer could be black-and-white, but unfortunately nothing of any actual importance could ever have been solved so easily", she said. Instead, her thoughtful suggestions included promoting critical content creators and placing greater emphasis on social movements in education.

In the course of her address, Serena acknowledged her own fallibility: "After all, for all we know, I could be very misguided; but the only way to find out is to put your own effort into thinking and learning". She then concluded with strength and directness: "The moment a movement becomes marketable, it stops being revolutionary. And feminism, of all things, should always be revolutionary".

Competing alongside hundreds of students across NSW, Serena reached the state final - one of just 11 finalists. The impromptu section, on the topic 'On the Brink', saw her pivot to discussing political education with the same intellectual agility she'd shown in her prepared speech.

"I was afraid of being too idealistic in some instances of my speech but it seemed as if they welcomed that," Serena reflects. "The competitors were all very good, as is expected of them".

Fellow student Lucinda also represented the School in the earlier rounds, demonstrating the breadth of speaking talent Wenona develops.