My Life

Teen Author Julie Zeilinger on Her Feminist Blog and New Book


Identifying as a feminist can be polarizing, especially for young women. This is partly because the teen years are often marked by insecurity as well as self-discovery. As a high school student in small-town Pepper Pike, OH, Julie Zeilinger launched The FBomb to create an online community and dialogue among her fellow teens and engage interest in feminism. Now, the college student has translated her blog into a book about the next generation of feminism. In A Little F'd Up, Julie analyzes feminism through the lenses of her own experiences, and focuses on the issues that matter most to girls in their teens and twenties. Julie proves that the word "feminist" is a self-determined identity that includes a wide range of women with varying beliefs, manners of dress, and personality types. The young author sat down with us to discuss how she defines feminism and why she thinks the movement is often disparaged.

When did you first become interested in feminism?

"I started my blog the summer after my sophomore year of high school. I got into feminism near the end of middle school when I had to give a speech to the entire student body as part of a requirement. I wrote my speech about female feticide and infanticide, which is a practice most common in Southeast Asia where parents kill their daughters or abort female fetuses because it's a son-preferential culture. I had never really been exposed to feminism; it wasn't something brought up in school or my household. I was astonished that these things happen to women."

How do you define feminism?

"For me, it really is about equality at its core. Going a little further, it's the pursuit of being able to live your life free from discrimination. I like to keep it broad because I think that people have a lot of different definitions, and I think that's a great thing for the movement. That is the one thing we can all agree on."

Why do you think that girls are so afraid to associate with this term?

"There's a huge stigma around it. A lot of it has to do, on a deeper level, with women having power and that being a threatening thing. More than that, it's just a lack of awareness. People are scared of the term 'feminism' because it's something they're unfamiliar with, and what little understanding they have of it may have been negative. A big part of it is showing people that a feminist can be anyone. Feminism is about the belief, not about the stereotype."

What specific issues does your book touch on?

"The book is meant to take the biggest issues that come up on The FBomb and boil them down. I give people a window into this movement and show how it is changing for our generation. There are a lot of issues, but body image comes up a lot. It's interesting because older feminists have asked why I don't focus on more pressing legal and economic issues. I think that for our generation, topics like eating disorders and the use of Photoshop are more pressing. These are the things on our minds right now."

Is it possible to support the fashion industry while identifying as a feminist?

"I definitely think it's possible; fashion can be feminist. If you work in fashion, it's honestly one of the best opportunities to do something about the issue of body image. You can focus on fashion as something that is art and self-expression. I don't appreciate the type of comments where there's one type of feminist and she can't wear makeup and high heels. There are a ton of different definitions about what it means to be a feminist."

You started college this year. Did you find it challenging to be associated with such strong views as you met new friends?

"I thought that when I got to college, people would be more open-minded than they were in high school. In a way, I think it has changed in that there are feminist discussions in classes and more avenues to understanding feminism. But at the same time, socially, a lot hasn't changed. There are still a lot of people sticking to gender stereotypes and girls acting in less than dignified ways just to get a guy—that was a little disappointing to me. But on a personal level, I've always been okay with embracing that feminist identity. It's important for people to see that I can be a normal person, have a sense of humor, dress a certain way, and still be a feminist. It can be challenging at times, but it's something that I'm happy to do."

Who do you look up to?

"Kristen Wiig, Tina Fey, Amy Poehler—they show that women can be funny. A big goal for me in writing this book was to put humor in it and make it fun. People have this idea of feminism being really angry, and it's not. It can be so much fun! And feminists are really supportive, and I wanted to show that in this book. So I really look up to women who are able to do that for their careers."

What has been the most challenging part of writing a book?

"It took me a long time to get over the whole concept of, I'm only eighteen and I don't know enough to do this. It took me a while to trust my own voice. The things I'm trying to tell people by writing The FBomb I had to learn myself in writing this book. It can be really scary to put yourself out there in print, but I have a voice and it's valuable. It's a very controversial book, and I take really definitive opinions. I had to come to the conclusion that doing that was bigger than any criticism I might receive."

Why is now a particularly important time for girls to understand what's going on in terms of women's rights and the health debate? What can they do to inform themselves?

"It is really an important time for young women, especially for those who are eighteen and can vote. I have a friend who sets her Google alert to certain terms so that she's able to keep up with the news cycle. You don't need to necessarily be an expert on the women's health debate, but it is important to have a general understanding of what's going on. These are our rights, and they could very easily be taken away. That's a real possibility, and I think that a lot of young women don't understand that."

What do you think?


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