Positive feminist ideals spread through surfing

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A group of women from the Pacific Islands are spreading awareness for women’s health, feminism and self defense through a surfing program. Stephanie Mahuk founded her program,”Solwota Sista.” This program strives to spread awareness for many issues and is the start of a revolution. One of the members, Kelly Murphy left the professional surfing industry because she felt that the sexualization was “disgusting.”

 Murphy stated that your ranking in the league was not a product of your skill, but “how good you look in a bikini.”

In current times, the push for equality is spreading like wildfire. Women are forced to face sexism, predators, inequality, hyper-sexualization and more. It is evident that change is essential. Non-toxic feminism has the power to heal open wounds in society and it should be spread. “Every culture and society is different, we all have  subconscious prejudice and bias,” Dr. Matthew Bolton, Edison Intermediate School principal explained.

Part of normalizing society with these ideas is understanding there are problems to fix. If we try to rebuild over prejudices, they will remain; we must work to eliminate them entirely. “To spread positivity about women’s surfing, there should be more social media about it to spread awareness,” said Jake Dickey, EIS seventh grader.

As Jake mentioned, social media is one of the most influential means of spreading awareness and its accessibility is unrivaled. In 2021, nearly everyone has access to a phone, making spreading awareness globally as easy as a couple taps on a screen.

Many organizations promote women’s empowerment and spread awareness for many issues. The Solowa Sista program is no exception. They travel to culturally diverse communities to teach of women’s rights, literacy and sexual health. EIS Vice Principal Mrs. Crystal Marsh stated, “As far as feminism and women’s rights, gender is a protected class, I respect people’s right to choose and we respect differences.”

Organizations like Solowa Sista are developing all over the world, knowledge is being spread and people are becoming aware of the issues plaguing our world today.