Feminism fills the air in room 508 at Bonita Vista High (BVH) as they re-introduce the Promotion of Women in Leadership club (PWL) which is being brought back from the ‘70s. PWL builds women’s support by encouraging more students in the BVH community to be activists. This recently revised club meets every Wednesday during lunch in room 508.
“The club fights for the rights of women, to bring more awareness on [issues] like domestic violence, the LGBTQ+ community, equal pay and equal economic status,” PWL President and junior Vivian Pruitt said.
As the president of PWL, Pruitt is the main organizer who speaks to other organizations such as the National Organization for Women. Speaking to various organizations helps the club explore different opportunities in order to be activists for more causes.
“We wanted to make something unique in this school and we had not seen that there was a women’s club before this. It made us want to represent that aspect, wanting to start a strong women community in the school,” PWL Vice President and junior Nicole Riveras said.
Riveras organizes all fundraising events PWL participates in. Riveras explains that BVH has never had a women empowerment club that has brought a strong women community to BVH in a long time. This is the reason why Pruitt and Riveras believed it was a good idea to bring back a strong and passionate women’s club to campus.
“Our main goal is to push students to be activists because I feel not many people are aware that they can do this stuff. I believe they do not feel like they have the power to [fight for equal rights] as students,” Pruitt said.
Many people in the BVH community do not fully understand how they can do their part to bring attention to political and social issues, especially as students. This club plans to start educating their club members on how they can be proactive in the community. They hope these ideas will also grow outside of the PWL club.
“Our plan right now is we have subhead groups. Our first is education, second is action. What we are doing right now is to educate people for the first meeting and for the second one we present actions that they can take,” Pruitt said.
Subhead groups are an idea Pruitt thought of as an effective way to get students involved. This breaks down different steps for students who may not know how they can do their part to ensure women have a more equal opportunity. The club encourages students to take action in ways such as writing letters to organizations and signing petitions. Senior Mya Ramirez, who recently joined PWL is already learning how to advocate for different feminist organizations.
“The Vice President and the President give us presentations about events that involve women, what these events do and how we can do our part. An example of doing our part is by supporting them and fundraising,” Ramirez said.
During the past meetings PLW has held, Ramirez learns that she can do her part in supporting different organizations that advocate for women. Club members like Pruitt are excited to take actions to transform the institutions that enforce inequality.
“I am happy we are bringing back this club to enforce feminism. It is fun meeting new people who are also interested [in being activists],” Pruitt said.
