Who belongs in the new Young Feminists of Charlotte meetup group?

Natalie Murphy, 26, doesn’t see much of a discussion about feminism happening in Charlotte, where she grew up. “It’s just not on the table at all,” she said.

She also noticed the female movers and shakers in her Charlotte sphere didn’t know each other.

“I kept meeting really fantastic women around the city just individually,” she said. “We’d have great conversations and they were like, ‘Yeah, I consider myself a feminist. I don’t bring it up, I don’t really have a girl squad.'”

So Murphy took the next step and created the Young Feminists of Charlotte, which just had its first meeting Sept. 1 at the Goodyear Arts building uptown. The inaugural Feminist Meetup involved PBR, Hyde Brewing coffee and Move That Dough Baking Co. doughnuts. About a dozen people came to check it out, including three men.

“I need to kind of create a forum where they can hang out with one another and kind of strengthen their visions for Charlotte,” said Murphy of the young feminists in the city.

She clarified that she’s not looking to educate people about feminism, nor is she here to try to convince people to become feminists.

“I want those who already identify to come out,” she said.

Wait, so what is feminism in Charlotte?

Fellow C5 writer Joanne Spataro is one of the more than 70 people listed as a member of the Young Feminists of Charlotte’s closed group on Facebook.

“Feminism is the belief that women deserve equal and equitable rights,” she said in an email. “I love the old school lore of feminism, like bra burning and ditching lipstick, but we need to respect all the ways women are living their lives. Whether women cake on the face or go natural, they should feel supported — and that includes trans women.”

Local artist Claudia Soria is another person listed as a member of the group.

“Feminism to me is all about equal rights to women and men alike, regardless of race, or sexual orientation,” she said. “It is about being valued and respected for who you are as an individual, and for what you can do to contribute to society. It is about having equal opportunity to education, health and all the conditions that will allow you to become a fulfilled individual.

“(It’s) about having control of your own body and making decisions that are best for you, and not decided by others. It is also about having the right to decide how you dress without others making that decision for you.”

So who belongs in the Young Feminists of Charlotte group?

The group is for women and men and was originally aiming for ages 21-40, though Murphy clarified that “these meetups are geared to the greater feminist population.”

Her concept of feminism involves women protecting one another and learning how to stand their ground and use their voices while knowing they have solidarity with other people around them, men and women alike.

“I don’t want it to be a white woman collegiate group,” Murphy said. “I want it to be all flavors of feminism, whether it be males who identify as feminists, people of color who identify as feminists — I want the whole spectrum to show up eventually.”

Although the group is listed as a closed group on Facebook, Murphy said she is quick to accept new members.

The game plan

The Sept. 1 meetup attendees expressed interest in a book club to further education about feminism, in a venting space for day-to-day micro-aggressions, in a networking space for fellow feminists and in more conversations about how men can become feminists.

The next monthly meeting will be Oct. 5, and a public event will be created on Facebook to share details so all can attend.

“I want it to organically form from what people want,” Murphy said. “I consider myself to be a baby feminist. I don’t have the answers and I don’t really want to lead people. … I think it can become a conversation of many voices, just about what they’d like to see change, especially around this city.”

Image: Natalie Murphy, JessiLee Cord

This story was originally published September 7, 2016 at 12:00 AM with the headline "Who belongs in the new Young Feminists of Charlotte meetup group?."