How most teenage girls describe themselves as feminists

Feminist is the most common word young girls use to describe themselves – and many see campaigning actress Emma Watson as their inspiration, a study suggests.

A survey found almost a third call themselves a feminist, compared with a tenth who identify as sporty and a fifth who say they are a bookworm.

Many respondents said Miss Watson, who played Hermione Granger in the Harry Potter films, was one of their most influential role models, telling researchers they admired her for ‘using her fame’ to tackle sexual discrimination.

Feminist is the most common word young girls use to describe themselves. thanks to Emma Watson (pictured)

Many respondents said Miss Watson, who played Hermione Granger in the Harry Potter films, was one of their most influential role models

Miss Watson, 27, recently took a break from acting during which she studied feminist literature and spoke out for HeForShe, a solidarity campaign started by the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women. She said in February that her work as a feminist was ‘exhausting’, but that the resulting criticism had ‘toughened’ her up.

University gender gap at record level

Teenage girls are over a third more likely to go to university than boys, as the gap between the sexes reaches a record level.

As of Friday morning, admissions body Ucas said 133,280 female British 18-year-olds had secured a place for the autumn, compared with 103,800 male counterparts – the largest gap ever recorded at this point in the year.

The statistics will renew fears boys are falling behind. Last year, Mary Curnock Cook, then head of Ucas, said the ‘highly entrenched trend’ was a direct consequence of ‘years of lower educational achievement by boys’.

Ucas said 27.3 per cent of male school leavers are expected to go to university this year, compared with 37.1 per cent of female peers.

It means girls are 36 per cent more likely to start a degree this autumn. The figure was 35 per cent last year and 31 per cent five years ago. One factor is the rising popularity of nursing courses, where girls outnumber boys by around 28 to one.

Ucas’s Dr Mark Corver said the gender gap was now ‘similar to that between the richest and poorest halves of the population’.

The survey of 1,000 teenagers was conducted by ICM for the National Citizen Service, which runs activity programmes for teenagers. When girls were asked which term most identified them, the most votes went to ‘feminist’ – over others such as ‘environmentalist’ or ‘intellectual’. Large proportions also said they looked up to celebrities if they spoke out about social issues and encouraged them to be themselves.

When asked which celebrity most influences and inspires them, boys and girls both chose Emma Watson.

One said: ‘She uses the power and fame she gained from the Harry Potter series to speak about important issues like feminism.’ Another said: ‘She frequently speaks out on sexism and other discrimination issues such as racism and homophobia, and what she says really inspires me.’

Alice Finnegan, who took the NCS programme, said: ‘I find Emma Watson so inspirational … I’ve always looked up to her as someone who isn’t afraid to articulate her views … Feminism is so important to me.’

Only 5 per cent of teenage boys identified as feminists, instead choosing labels such as ‘gamer’, which was most popular with 39 per cent of votes.

Lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans youngsters of both sexes were more likely to identify as feminist – about 40 per cent. White and Asian young people were significantly more likely to call themselves feminists compared with their black peers.

NCS’s Natasha Kizzie said: ‘The rise of internet feminism and increasingly politically engaged youth has brought these issues to the forefront … the Emma Watson effect has done brilliant things for the cause.’

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