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❂ If you meet a man who self-identifies as feminist, become his friend and show him off to other boys. He’s a winner.

❂ Check out organizations like Men Can Stop Rape and the National Organization for Men Against Sexism.

Beauty

❂ Don’t diet. Fuck them and their bullshit beauty standards. Eating can be a powerful act when the world wants you to disappear.

❂ Wear high heels, mascara, and whatever else you want. I sure do. But let’s not forget that by doing this, we’re adhering to a narrow, male-created vision of hotness. Again, this isn’t to say it’s wrong to want to look “hot,” and to go along with the status quo from time to time, but let’s not call it empowered. Call it what it is—fun and easy.

❂ Don’t wear high heels, mascara, or whatever else they want. Fuck them and bullshit beauty standards.

❂ Call out people for using a woman’s appearance to attack or judge her.

❂ If someone tries to use the ugly card (or the pretty one, for that matter) to silence you, keep on talking.

Politics

❂ Vote. Please, god, vote. Go to Women’s Voices. Women Vote. (www.wvwv.org) and find out how to get involved in getting more young women interested in political participation.

❂ Check out the White House Project (www.thewhitehouseproject.org) and find out ways to get involved—you can take action on behalf of women candidates or find out how to become one yourself.

❂ Build a shrine to Ann Richards. (Okay, again, that one is mine. But feel free to steal it.)

❂ Run for office. Seriously, do it.

❂ If there’s poor political representation of women in your hometown (shit, or even in your school), get working.

Spreading the Word

❂ Now that you know just how fantastic feminism is, go out and spread the word. Let other young women know that the “f-word” is anything but.

❂ If you hear someone say the dreaded phrase, “I’m not a feminist, but . . .” call them out on it. Let them know that if they have feminist opinions and values, then they’re (gasp!) probably a feminist. Tell them to suck it up.

❂ Visit feminist blogs (cough, cough, www.feministing.com, cough). Seriously, we have an awesome list of feminist website and blogs on Feministing, so come on by.

❂ Take women’s and gender studies classes and encourage others to do the same.

❂ Call yourself a feminist loud and proud. Wear a shirt. Yeah, I admit it. I love a shirt with a good message.

Yes, some of these are the easy, everyday things. There are definitely other, more involved ways to do feminism—but I’d figure it’s best to start easy. Besides, everyday feminism can be the most effective (and fun). Making feminism a part of your daily life and choices really does create change all around you. But by all means, if you’re loving it, go crazy and become a professional feminist.

If you’ve taken anything from this book, I hope at the very least you’ve realized all of the amazing things about feminism and what it can do for your life. That it’s not an all-anti-all-the-time kind of social justice movement. It’s a positive, life-changing, fun, and cool way to live your life. One that presupposes that you are worth more than your ability to please guys.

Not to get all emo at the end of the book—because that would be cliché—but the reason I wrote this book is that I believe so much in feminism. It changed my life for the better, and I want other young women to be able to say the same. It seems such a shame to me that so many of us shun feminism because we’re afraid of the word. Because this is something that has the potential to make you think differently about everything, to make you think differently about yourself.

So, truly, thanks for reading my random feminist rants; I hope that some of it resonated with you. Young women really do have the ability to fuck shit up (in a good way), and I hope this book inspires you to start.

Five Ways You Know You’re a Full Frontal Feminist

1. While you may enjoy your makeup and high heels, you realize there is something insanely