Student support groups are hard to find in MVHS, mainly because they are often overshadowed by other activities at school. But recently, a club was made not just for new students, but for all of MVHS’ student body. A club that accepts all, a club that has bonding. But this isn’t just a club, it is something else. This is the Girls Empowerment Project.
Girls Empowerment Project club held their first meeting during lunch on Oct. 24. The club was created by sophomores Ruth Feng and Kamya Krishnan in hopes of bringing awareness to the misogyny they feel that women face everyday.
The clubs officers expresses their views on uplifting social confidence to young people and promoting women’s rights all over the world to the attendees.
Sophomore Ishani Chakraborty was among the twenty or so students listening to Feng and Krishnan present their club’s main ideas. Chakraborty was a co-president of the Girl-Up club at Kennedy Middle School and was extremely moved by the first meeting she had at GEP.
Chakraborty came into the meeting with some propositions and goals in mind,
“Seeing [inequality] from a young age, how kids are exposed to believe things that are not true. I wanted to change that.” sophomore ishani chakraborty
Her experiences shape her morals and ideals to this day. Chakraborty recalls reading an article of a woman who lost a lawsuit against her boss for receiving a lower salary on the same job a male colleague did.
“There really shouldn’t be that gap, [because] she has [the same] experience [and] she has the same amount of knowledge,” Chakraborty said.
Chakraborty learned how women can be mistreated anywhere, especially the workplace where academics come into play. The event was a turning point of her perspective on unfair treatment towards women.
“A lot of those times I have also been in those situations, where ‘guys are better at this’, and I feel like any person is [just] as qualified, no matter what gender,” Chakraborty said.
The idea for the Girls Empowerment Project was actually an inspiration that Kamya Krishnan, the co-president had during an assembly. Krishnan has goals in mind for what this club will be in the future so it will not just be a one or two year escapade. Instead, it will last so everyone can be apart of the mission.
“I wanted to do something that would help MVHS” Krishnan said. “[Feng and I] both compromised on this [the clubs] idea and we were both really passionate about addressing this issue.”
This idea is what gave way to the Girls Empowerment Project. With this generation facing misogyny in many types of media, for example with Trump’s controversy about how he talked about woman, it is understandable why this club came to be. This is a club to strengthen their beliefs and who they are. Club advisor and English teacher Jackie Corso also sees it as this way too.
“The focus is on empowering women,” Corso said, “but it is also about everyone, like it is an open inclusive club that encourages support some semblance of fraternity instead of tearing each other apart.”
Corso believes that this club will be a supportive club that includes all, not just girls, even though the name could imply that. The GEP It is an open club for people of all genders to join; all genders can join it to look for strength or even support the girls who are feeling down in the club.
There will be 15 more meetings until the school year is over, and both Feng and Krishnan want to do something during those 15 meetings with their new club. They want MVHS to be a better place for all people, regardless of genders.
