By Sarah Seltzer April 23, 2010

I appreciate the frustration fellow Sisterhood blogger Debra Nussbaum Cohen expresses at this critical juncture for reproductive rights. I also worry all the time that pro-choicers are losing the national battle over abortion rights. But as a twenty-something feminist, I don’t have to look far to find my peers — and I certainly wouldn’t blame them for our precarious perch.

No, I’m not necessarily going to find my fellow young feminists at a NARAL or NOW meeting (although NOW does have a fantastic young women’s task forcein NYC). Instead I’m going to find them online, on Twitter, at local events and readings, and when there’s a big rally, you bet they’ll be there. Many of many of my peers of color and other forward-thinking feminists have actively chosen to lead Reproductive Justice organizations. These organizations work at the intersection of many pressing social issues, promoting an agenda that includes reproductive rights, but goes beyond them. Dozens of my peers are bowling for abortion access this weekend.

And countless younger women responded online to the Newsweek article lamenting their absence from the movement. Here are a few:

Forwarding the News

Thoughtful, balanced reporting from the Forward and around the web, bringing you updated news and analysis each day.

Terms(Required)

I agree to the Forward's Terms of Service and Privacy Policy

Email(Required)

• Dear NARAL and Newsweek: I am a Young Feminist and I Care

• Youth Activism: It Totally Exists on Its Own Terms, and That’s Fine

• Desperately Seeking Young Feminists

Personally, I choose not to be a member of the big feminist organizations because when I have money to give to the cause, I give it directly to Planned Parenthood. But I do spend a rather unfathomably huge amount of my life tweeting, blogging, and gathering to discuss and opine about reproductive rights, mixing cultural commentary with the protection of women’s bodily autonomy. And I’m not alone: it’s a crowded field. There are so many young feminist writers that we’ve swelled the ranks of the [Women, Action and the Media organization] (http://www.womenactionmedia.org/) with our enthusiastic presence.

We are everywhere, and when our rights are threatened, we mobilize. Instead of constantly berating our so-called apathy, I again believe that mainstream organizations need to harness the incredible energy found locally and on the internet.

The Forward is free to read, but it isn’t free to produce

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward.

Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.

At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.

Readers like you make it all possible. We’ve started our Passover Fundraising Drive, and we need 1,800 readers like you to step up to support the Forward by April 21. Members of the Forward board are even matching the first 1,000 gifts, up to $70,000.

This is a great time to support independent Jewish journalism, because every dollar goes twice as far.

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

2X match on all Passover gifts!

$90 → $180 $180 → $360

$360 → $720

Other amount