Equal Writes

Q: How did you first become interested in women's studies?

A: I had always considered myself a feminist, but I grew up in a liberal bubble. It wasn't until I came to Princeton that I experienced the problems that people like my mother told me that they had faced. I also found it really strange that with Princeton's history of sexism, no one talks about the gender problems. I got involved in some groups on campus where I was very vocal about women's issues - though I hate that term. It's a man's issue, too.

Q: How did your blog start?

A: It wasn't my idea. A senior named Chloe Angyal had the idea for a blog, but didn't have much time to start it. A few people referred me to her, so we met and discussed the idea for Equal Writes. It was definitely Chloe's idea, but now I'm co-editing with Josh Franklin '11. We recruited some writers from different organizations on campus, and the blog began.

Q: What kinds of writers contribute to Equal Writes?

A: We have a very diverse group of bloggers. We have a couple of bloggers from the Anscombe Society, I recruited a few writers from women's studies classes, and some of the bloggers are my friends. We tried really hard to get a diverse group of bloggers. That's been a challenge to both Josh and me, since we're both traditional feminists, and we have writers who are very politically conservative. But we want to emphasize that feminism isn't just about the left wing.

Q: How has Equal Writes grown since the beginning?

A: Though it's hard to tell exactly what our audience is because of the nature of a blog, we've gotten a lot of hits so far. Also, last week a post that I made was linked on feministing.com, a popular feminist blog. I was pretty excited because, in creating the blog, Chloe and I were inspired a lot by Feministing.

Q: What do you envision for the future of the blog?

A: I would like the blog to keep going after I graduate. When we started this, we wanted to start a dialogue about the gender issues on campus, and we wanted Equal Writes to be a catalyst. I'm not really looking for the blog to influence outside of campus. There's a serious sense of apathy at Princeton, and I want to ask people hard questions. I really want the blog to be a sense of awareness for Princeton. 

—Interview conducted, condensed and edited by Jocelyn Greer '11