One week in February, grades 3-12 of the student body met twice in the Heller Auditorium during Morning Ex– Wednesday for a presentation by Celina Villanueva, the NADP and Youth Engagement Manager at the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights, and Friday for a presentation by Head of the History Department Anthony Shaker and third grade teacher Nadia Pardesi for a presentation entitled “Islam 101.”

There was widespread snapping twice during these MXs. Once, when Pardesi announced that women should be able to wear what they wanted, and a second time when Villanueva declared that women should run for office because only they have the power to change the world for the better. We snap, in other words, for feminism.

I consider myself a feminist. I have no shortage of respect for those spearheading the movements for equal pay and an end to sexual assault, and I fight for these things too. I agree with and wholeheartedly support both of these women’s statements. I stopped and clapped alongside the rest of the crowd.

But it disturbs me to see that Pardesi’s strength in facing discrimination and fighting ignorance towards her religion and Villanueva’s work standing up for the lives and rights of immigrants did not warrant snaps. In my mind, these issues are all of equal importance. The presence of feminism throughout Parker’s student body is wonderful, and something to be celebrated, but it should not overshadow other causes and achievements because of its popularity. It is not acceptable, for example, that students are comfortable discussing gender equality and the pay gap but recoil at the word “race.”

In the past year, I have noticed that the causes students seem to be most passionate about are those that are taking off on a global scale, and are supported by celebrities. The marches and events Parker students tend to turn up to and have the biggest opinions about are those that have been deemed “cool,” or “hip,” to be a part of.

Why is it that students turn up for the gun control and women’s marches? Is it because they are most passionate about these issues, or because these issues have attracted the greatest national attention?

Parker students must identify the causes they believe in based off of personal experience and knowledge, as opposed to the general popularity of the cause, or the number of their friends involved. It is not an accurate statement to call yourself an activist if you show up to national marches but decline to take real action within your city or neighborhood. Although many students are overscheduled, it is not impossible to take an hour out of your month to deliver lunches to a local shelter, or tutor.

Although the current worldwide feminist movement has been working to be as inclusive as possible towards all women, specifically women of color and LGBTQIA+ women, I personally do not see the same work being done at Parker. It seems students invest a lot of their time and effort only towards fashionable causes that pertain to them– in this case, the feminist movement. Students attend the Women’s March and claim to be fighting for their lives, but they don’t otherwise work to enact change.

Students at Parker seem to be focused on a single type of straight, white feminism that prohibits them from valuing other struggles to the same extent. When addressing feminism, it is impossible to do so in a constructive and fair way when you leave out the woman of color. Caucasian female Parker students love to bring up the pay gap but don’t acknowledge that while white females make 80 cents on the white man’s dollar, black females make 63 cents and Hispanic women make 54 cents.

As Parker students, given our privilege and opportunity, we have an obligation to stand up for what we believe in. However, what we believe in should not be determined by what our friends or the national media consider to be “hip.” In addition to taking courageous action, Parker students should become as educated as possible on every topic pertinent to today’s society.