Women to Know: Rowan Blanchard

By Claire

Rowan Blanchard is one of the most important young feminists of our time, and one of my top inspirations and role models for 2016.

At only 14, Rowan plays popular tv couple of the 90’s, Cory and Topanga’s, daughter, Riley Matthews on the Disney Channel hit Girl Meets World, (a spin off from the ABC 90s classic Boy Meets World, and discussed on the blog in this post).

In the world of constant connection and social media, Rowan uses her Twitter account to tweet and re-tweet articles and inform her 330 thousand followers of intersectional feminism, LGBTQ+ rights (which extends beyond being able to marry), depression in teenagers and the Black Lives Matter movement. She writes about these issues in the captions on her Instagram account, which has a staggering 3.3 million followers. 

Her writing provides an insight and eloquence I hope to one day achieve myself. 

At the start of this year, in the caption of a short video posted on her account, Rowan mentions going through depression in the past year, her lesson to live unapologetically, embrace her teenage emotions and support for all teenagers. In a society where teenagers are condemned for being emotional, are pressured into having their lives figured out, as young and foolish, Rowan embraces teenager’s right to be exactly who they are, complicated and full of emotions as they are, including herself. 

However, it seems that every day I am more and more inspired, and fall more and more in love with her.

In 2015, Rowan spoke on “gender inequality in youths” at the US National Committee for United Nations Women Annual Conference with Team HeFor She. The video of this speech is linked in the profile of her Instagram account, highlighting the importance gender equality is to her. 

You can read the transcript of her speech here, so expertly written and spoken, as well as other responses such as her mini essay on the term “white feminism”, and sexism on the red-carpet. 

Alongside friend and feminist trailblazer Amandla Stenberg, Rowan was named Feminist Celebrity of the Year by the Ms. Foundation for Women. These two were placed number one, an top of an impressive list of ten including Ruth Bader Ginsberg, Lavern Cox and Viola Davis. 

Rowan Blanchard is a stunning, eloquent, educated, mature and beautiful girl who inspires me to do better every day. You can catch her on the Disney Channel show Girl Meets World, and follow her on Twitter, Instagram and Tumblr.