Rowan Blanchard explains why she wrote her amazing feminist essay

Back in August, Rowan Blanchard (aka Riley Matthews on Girl Meets World) set a high bar for 13-year-olds everywhere when she wrote an amazingly nuanced discussion of intersectional feminism on her Instagram. Here’s that essay in full: 

“With as many issues as feminists have succeeded in adopting, many of us seem to have not accepted the fact that police brutality and race issues are our issues too,” she writes. “The way a black woman experiences sexism and inequality is different from the way a white woman experiences sexism and inequality. Likewise with trans-women and Hispanic women.”

The essay went viral, transforming the Girl Meets World star into a role model for all people everywhere, no matter the age. She recently talked to MTV about the response to her post — it was, of course, awesome and kind and perfect.

“Personally, I think what I wrote stands out at any age,” Blanchard said to MTV News. “I don’t think it gets more credit because of my age or less credit because of my age, and I don’t think there’s an age limit for education. I learned about feminism a year ago, and I’ve become passionate about it within this year … at the end of the day, I think it’s good when anyone has this conversation, whether they’re 10 or 45.”

She then name dropped a just a few of the people she looks up to, like Emma Watson and her equally socially conscious and well-spoken friends Amandla Stenberg and Zendaya. Blanchard also discussed how young girls are portrayed in the media, and how she’s going to change that.

“Look at the way that we’re portrayed in a lot of kids’ TV! That’s why I’m very proud of my show because on so many shows, they portray teens, but especially teen girls, as these idiots,” she said. “Why would you want those kinds of girls to be representing us on television when I can name you 200,000 of my Twitter followers who are well-grounded, brave and strong girls?”

Along with an upcoming Disney Channel movie Invisible Sister and continuing to star on Girl Meets World, Blanchard is also working with friends to start a teen-focused magazine written by teens.

Let’s just say we would be all over that.

The 13-year-old star of ‘Girl Meets World’ just made an excellent point about race and feminism

And in one tweet, Zendaya perfectly shuts down sexist remarks

[Images via Instagram and Facebook]