Five prominent women discussed their paths to feminism, happy relationships and fulfilling careers at a panel discussion organized by an ASU female empowerment and self-love club on Thursday.
I Am That Girl’s ASU chapter organized the first Feminist February, a panel about “love and success in the 21st century.” The downtown Phoenix campus event kicked off with a panel discussion to precede Valentine’s Day and conclude Love Yourself ASU week, when the club promotes the idea that the most important relationship is the one you have with yourself.
Women’s rights advocate Felecia Rotellini, who ran for attorney general of Arizona and served as the superintendent of the Banking Department of Arizona, said she first discovered feminism when going to a Little League ballpark as a child with her dad. All the boys were down on the field, while she was expected to sit up in the stands.
“I remember starting to think about how unfair that was,” Rotellini said. “That I wanted to play baseball and there was no way.”
That was the moment Rotellini realized she had to stand up for herself and “make sure I got to be where they were.”
Taking an active role in one’s life was a theme of the discussion. The women discussed the roles of feminism in their lives and gave advice on how younger generations can do so as well.
“We don’t submit to feminism; we subscribe to it,” said Chana Goldstein, who created the blog “Reclaiming Pink,” runs Jewish Arizonans on Campus and has worked to empower young women through speaking at organizations and college campuses.
“There’s something special about a panel,” Goldstein said after the event. “When you’re on a panel, it’s collaborative education. You have the opportunity to hear lots of different people and then bounce what you’re going to say. It’s more of a conversation, which I think is more authentic learning.”
Several of the women discussed growing up with cultural expectations that their only accomplishment in life would be to marry early and have kids.
Lea Woodford, founder and CEO of online women’s magazine SmartFem, advised the audience to focus less on relationships and more on empowering themselves and other women.
“If you want to find Prince Charming, find yourself first,” Woodford said.
Mary Jo West, Phoenix’s first prime-time anchorwoman, said it can be harmful to put career and work before relationships. She advised the audience they did not always have to be “wearing too many hats” and taking on too many things.
West’s other key tip? Get rid of fear.
“Fear is ruining this country,” she said. “Don’t buy into it. Get rid of the F-word. If you’ve been afraid of doing something, do it. It’s okay to make mistakes.”
Alyxis Trujillo, who mentors student athletes, said serving others is the key to learning about one’s true self. She is in the process of developing a collegiate football player identity development program, WMI Beyond Sports (We Made It Beyond Sports).
“Once you’re able to recognize all those things about yourself is when you’re able to start enjoying it (and) giving it intention, whether it’s the intention to correct it or really flaunt it,” Trujillo said.
Trujillo also implored the audience to seize each day.
“The easiest thing in life is to quit,” she said. “Every day you wake up, you are given an opportunity to make one choice … Don’t quit. Don’t give up. You are not determined by the situation or the circumstances around you. Every day that you are blessed with a day, it is your day.”
Amanda Luberto is a junior and co-founder of I Am That Girl ASU, which she started in 2014 with Tamsyn Stonebarger.
Luberto said she hoped those who attended the discussion would learn something new and find a possible mentor in the panelist they connected with most.
“There’s five women from five different backgrounds,” Luberto said before the event. “They’re all talking about one subject, but they’re all going to have different opinions, and they’re all going to have different stories.”
Goldstein said she hoped the audience members would go home with some real ideas about what to do next in their lives.
“It’s great to see women who’ve succeeded and use that as inspiration,” she said. “But I think that we provided some real practical role models of ‘this is what we did, here are some ideas on how you can also do that.’”
Editor’s note: The reporter recently joined ASU’s chapter of I Am That Girl.
Contact the reporter at libby.allnatt@asu.edu
