Feminism today is especially being guided by the Feminists of old, prominent leaders of the past who continue to forge the path ahead for the modern women's movement: these are leaders like Ruth Bader Ginsburg of the Supreme Court and Gloria Steinhem of Women's Media Center. Many other prominent figures represent Feminism today and are actively working towards the advocacy of women's rights in social, political, economic, and religious spectrums. This paper will discuss the movement and individuals who make up the movement as it exists in today's day and age. To understand Feminism today and the way its advocates represent it, it is important to understand how Feminism came into being and how it has evolved.

Betty Friedan had been shaped by much of what went on in early twentieth century America. An avid activist and strong supporter of equal rights for women, Friedan took the opportunity on the fiftieth anniversary of the granting of women's suffrage to organize a strike for equality. Her book The Feminine Mystique essentially sparked the Feminist Movement. She claimed "that she came to political consciousness out of a disillusionment with her life as a suburban housewife" (Horowitz, 1998, p. 2) and wrote the book on feminism, literally, as a means of doing what the Jewish producers in Hollywood had done: reinvention of self. Not only did Friedan reinvent herself, she enabled millions of women to reinvent themselves as well. In this way she followed the mantra of Simone de Beauvoir, who stated that that a woman is not what one is born but rather what one becomes (Beauvoir, 2004, p. 51). Following the philosophical premises of Nietzsche and the post-moderns, who view life as a series of "repetitions" in which one is endlessly striving to "become" what socio-historical trends stipulate the "thing" to be (Kundera, 1984, p. 4-6), Butler senses an unavoidable obstacle in the act of "becoming." It is forever constrained by unforgiving terms and categories that keep the act from total consummation. One may spend all one's life trying to "become" a woman -- but it is an elusive identity (Butler, 1990) because it is still defined with respect to manhood. Today's Feminists strive to actualize womanhood and define themselves apart from men.

To this end there is the work of Gloria Steinhem, who has been a Feminist advocate since the 1960s, thus making her one of the old guard in the movement still active today. Steinhem founded Ms. magazine, a medium that focuses on taking the "male"-based orientation out of the idea of Feminism. Steinhem called for women's liberation in an article in 1969 and just as Friedan's book catapulted her to the front lines of the movement, so too did Steinhem's article do the same for her. Today, Steinhem has joined the likes of Jane Fonda and Robin Morgan in starting the Women's Media Center, which works to put women in the spotlight in media productions. She lectures widely and continues to be a leading voice for Feminists. Considering that she is 80 years old, Steinhem is a true representative of the old guard of Feminists.

Steinhem has also advocated abortion rights for women. An article in a 2006 issue of Ms. was entitle "We Had Abortions" and described the impact of an article that appeared more than thirty years earlier before Roe v. Wade made abortion legal. The article included names of women who had had abortions and were proud to admit it publicly. Steinhem's own name along with other celebrity women was included.

Steinhem, like Friedan and Ruth Bader Ginsburg, is of Jewish descent; however, her political focus is mainly on the advocacy of women's rights and women's empowerment. Her focus today is the result of her realization in 1969 that as a woman who had had an abortion, she was a person who was taking charge of her life (Cooke, 2011). For Steinem, the issue has always been about reproduction rights at bottom: she believes men think they have the right to control a woman's reproductive cycle and what Feminism has taught her is that, no, they do not have that right. It is "Politics 101," she says (Cooke, 2011). Thus, she has been pro-choice since her epiphany in 1969 and leads a chorus of voices in asserting a policy of pro-choice politics.

Steinhem worked for Hillary Clinton in her presidential bid in 2008 and she still believes Clinton would have made a better president than Obama, because unlike Obama she is a fighter when it comes to women's issues (Cooke, 2011). Steinem's focus is expansive in the sense that she sees the whole of society as in need of a radical change, from laws to perspective to social mores. She highlights the arrest of French leader Dominic Strauss-Kahn as indicative of the great strides America has made in terms of letting women know that they have rights: "That made knew" she did not have to accept abuse from Strauss-Kahn...

Steinhem's attitude today confirms that Feminism is successful in today's world: its perspective is being understood and embraced in more and more ways, and especially on college campuses where she often goes to speak. Steinhem cites the instances in which her late husband would travel with her on her speaking tours and hundreds of young women would surround him to marvel at the fact that one could be a Feminist and still have a husband (Cooke, 2011). In her eyes, Steinhem views this as a success for the movement, which is about educating the next generation -- which Steinhem does through media (her magazine), politics (her support of Clinton), and through speaking tours. In this way, Steinhem remains one of the most important women in Feminism today.
Steinhem is also famous for questioning the need of transsexuals to alter their gender to satisfy their sexuality. She wrote in 1984 that "if the shoe doesn't fit, must we change the foot?" meaning that transexuality directs the focus of Feminism away from the question of reproductive rights and women's empowerment to something that is akin to bodily mutilation, according to Steinhem (1984, p. 206). In the wake of other Feminists' outcry, Steinhem retraced her steps in her view of transgender individuals, stating that transgenders should not be marginalized but rather embraced, defended and supported.

Part of that support comes from the work of women like Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who is one-year-older than Steinhem, and like Steinhem is a member of the old guard of Feminists. Ginsburg was appointed to the Supreme Court in 1993 during the presidency of Bill Clinton. A long-time advocate for women's rights, Ginsburg worked with the ACLU, sat on its board of directors, and founded the Women's Rights Project.

As a Supreme Court Justice, Ginsburg has stated publicly regarding abortion that the "government has no business making that choice for a woman" (Bazelon, 2009). Ginsburg's defense of the pro-choice position has been prominent and she is well-known for supporting a woman's right to have an abortion. However, as a Supreme Court Justice she has attempted to interpret the law according to the principles applied by the lawmakers in Congress. Therefore, she does not let her own personal preferences dictate judgments from the bench. On the other hand, she does believe that women's right to empowerment should be written into the Constitution.

Ginsburg expressed to Jeffrey Rosen (2014) in The New Republic that what she wants to see for young Feminists is more organization and action. If they want empowerment, laws need to change that respect their rights more clearly and for laws to change, things have to be done on the grass roots level. Whenever she speaks at colleges, she explains this principle: laws are written to protect people and so if women want equal protection under the law, they need to make their voices heard and that can only be accomplished through effective organization and lobbying.

Ginsburg has always been a fan of being vocal and today's Feminists need to be okay with being called a "bitch" as she was called when she was in school. Her answer to that title was, "Better bitch than mouse," and that philosophy says a lot about her Feminism (Rosen, 1993). It also says something about the state of Feminism today when that same philosophy is repeated in popular culture, such as sitcoms like The Bitch in Apartment 23 or the song by Alanis Morissette, "I'm a Bitch, I'm a Lover." The notion of bitchiness used to be a putdown but for today's Feminists it is taken as a badge of honor, a title that they have worked hard to win and are proud of having attained once receiving it. Women call their girlfriends "bitches" in the course of casual conversation, which indicates that the notion of being outspoken has become so normal and so accepted in popular culture that the philosophy of Ginsburg has spread far and wide among women today.

Ginsburg's stance on abortion has also been important for today's Feminists because it speaks to the notion that government should be obliged to pay for…