by YingYing Shang

Would you like to see real young feminists on TV? How about discussing the women’s movement today on a panel of teens with mixed opinions? Then tune into Nick News on Monday, April 1st, at 8pm!

Back in November, I and two other members of the SPARKteam, Sariel and Britney, travelled to New York City to film a segment of Nick News with Linda Ellerbee at the Nickelodeon studio for Women’s History Month. We sat on a panel of teens, all 16 or under, to discuss the progress that women had made — and should continue to make.

In order to better represent the American teen population, the producers of Nickelodeon strived to cast teens with both perspectives to answer the question, “Are we there yet?” in reference to American women. I argued that no, we still have work to do. At SPARK, we are protesting the destructive images in the media that inhibit women from succeeding.

We still do not have a constitutional amendment that guarantees freedom from discrimination based on sex. We still do not have equal representation in the government. Especially in recent years, we’ve seen an increase in sexual violence towards women, especially women of color.

That’s what my SPARKteammates and I argued, of course–that the fight’s not over. Other teens who participated argued that women have equality and that feminism is a thing of the past. Others talked about how boys feel pressure just as much as girls do. All told, it was an incredibly rich conversation and we’re so excited to see it air.

Please join us by tuning into Nickelodeon on April 1st at 8:00 pm and joining our Twitter livechat! Follow the conversation and join in by using the hashtag #NickFems. Here are a couple of tweets in case you want to tell your friends!

Do we still need feminism? @Nick_News asked, teens responded. Tune in 4/1 at 8pm & join the livechat on #NickFems! http://bit.ly/10dXyTB

On 4/1, teens talk #feminism on @Nick_News: does it still matter? Do we need it? Tune in & join the #NickFems livechat at 8pm http://bit.ly/10dXyTB