nona willis aronowitz

Nona is a 25-year-old author, Chicago Tribune reporter, blogger and radio commentator with a fresh, nuanced take on feminism, youth culture, and the media. She has written for The Nation, The Village Voice, Salon.com, Slate.com, Bitch magazine, and the New York Observer. She is co- author of Girldrive: Criss-crossing America, Redefining Feminism, and blogs at Girl-drive.com. Girldrive is based on a road trip that she and her photographer friend, Emma Bee Bernstein, took across the U.S., where they talked with hundreds of young women about their lives, ambitions, and views on feminism.

Nona's entertaining and informative talks include:

"Girldrive: Feminism and Activism for Gen Y"

This presentation takes a fun, visual, multimedia approach to discussing feminism, young women, and the issues and activism that are important to them. Nona uses detailed personal stories of the women who appear in Girldrive, coupling their words with portraits and video footage of their interviews to spark conversation and illustrate overarching feminist themes. Nona discusses geographical differences, and how conservative, religious, and/or rural women relate to feminism.

"Beyond Cosmo and Maxim: Sexism, Media and Feminist Consciousness"

This presentation positions mainstream media both as a feminist gateway or “click moment” for young women—and as an essential tool for combating restrictive gender roles and dangerous stereotypes. Nona explains that progressive writers and everyday activists need to inhabit and consume the poppiest of pop culture, then critique its sexist, racist and classist messages. The talk is a multimedia presentation with video clips of commercial and tv shows; screen shots of articles and blogs; and magazine clippings.

Praise for Nona:

“Nona’s presentation was inspiring and entertaining. I really enjoyed the discussion and gained a new understanding of feminism.” —Melissa Robinson, student, Sonoma State University

“Your talk was truly amazing and sparked some great discussion. It meant a lot to my students to be able to talk honestly about the many ways one can be a feminist.” —Prof. Sarah Hentges, University of Maine

Click here to see Nona talk at the University of Maine. 

For more info on Girldrive, click here. 

For more of Nona’s writing, click here. 

For more on young feminist activism, see: Katie Hnida, Lisa Jervis, Paula Kamen, Shelby Knox, Angela Rose, Courtney E. Martin, Amy Richards, or Jennifer Baumgardner.

For more speakers on feminist journalism, see: Gloria Steinem, Paula Kamen, Jennifer Baumgardner, Lisa Jervis, Ann Fessler, Jehmu Greene, Cathi Hanauer, Amanda Marcotte, Robin Morgan, Peggy Orenstein, Farai Chideya, Irshad Manji, Courtney E. Martin, Suzanne Braun Levine