Yes, My Role Model Is 17 Years Old

I have a confession: one of my biggest role models in life is about half my age.

Tavi Gevinson is only 17 years old but she's been a huge inspiration for me. Gevinson came to public attention at the age of 12 because of her fashion blog, The Style Rookie, which she started in 2008. The blog started drawing nearly 30,000 readers a day and eventually caught the attention of The New York Times, which interviewed her for an article about young bloggers. Because of her blog’s success, Gevinson was invited to attend New York Fashion Week and Paris Fashion Week and even commissioned to write articles for popular publications like Harper’s Bazaar.

Later the focus of her blog began to shift to feminism and pop culture and in the fall of 2011 Gevinson launched Rookie Magazine, an online publication aimed primarily at teenage girls. RookieMag.com, is a huge inspiration for SeeJaneWriteMag.com. 

You may think it's silly for a 30-something to admire a teenager, but after watching this talk Gevinson gave in 2012 at TEDxTeen, I think you'll become a Tavi fan too. 

In her speech, Gevinson broaches questions like What makes a strong female character? and discusses how one-dimensional portrayals of women in film and television can harm us in our everyday lives. She also discusses feminism and the struggle to figure out what that word truly means. And on the topic she has this to say: 

Feminism is not a rulebook. 

Feminism is a discussion, a conversation, a process.