Feminist Crush

Raised in Tijuana, Mexico and educated in the United States, visual artist and designer Tanya Aguiñiga's unique, cross-cultural craft work combines activist and community-based art practices, connecting marginalized communities through creative collaboration and inspiring audiences across the country and beyond its borders to engage in critical conversations about identity, gender, and culture.

A staple of the Los Angeles alt-comedy scene, transgender comedian Riley Silverman brings the house down by raising consciousness, delivering sharp, silly, and darkly humorous takes (inspired by her own experience) on topics like transitioning, harassment, and #TravelingWhileTrans.

Inspired by the fashion needs of both its founder and the larger LGBTQ community, designer Nik Kacy formed Nik Kacy Gender Equal Footwear, a groundbreaking shoe company specializing in the creation of stylish, uniquely unisex footwear for individuals of all gender expressions, paving the way for all people to rock what's in their hearts and souls on their feet without being (shoe)boxed in a gender binary.

With Call Your Girlfriend, a biweekly, unapologetically feminist podcast discussing the latest in pop culture and politics, journalist Ann Friedman and real-life bestie Amina Sow invite listeners to eavesdrop on their phone calls to each other about everything from menstrual cycles to workplace dramas, shattering the tired stereotype of catty and competitive female friendship and shining a bright, powerful light on the bond of sisterhood.

Blending bright colors, playful humor, and fierce feminism, illustrator Mary Purdie's gal-powered gallery of pop culture's most iconic feminist sheroes has drawn thousands of Instagram followers, inspiring meaningful activism and healing laughter through her artwork, while waving a middle finger (or two!) in the patriarchy's face.

Slam poetry superstar and teaching artist Alyesha Wise puts into powerful words her experiences as a black woman, calling out white supremacist patriarchy with her poetry and inspiring the next generation of poet-activists.

Using hair as a form of social justice, queer hairstylist Madin Ray Lopez's non-profit organization, Project Q, transforms LGBTQIA and homeless youth by helping those struggling to accept who they are become the people they were born to be - one haircut at a time!

Drawing from her coming-of-age as the child of an Italian immigrant, the othering she encountered as a city kid residing in the rural South, and her experience as an immigrant living and working abroad, LA-based visual artist Debra Scacco creates multimedia artwork that charts a course towards understanding cultural identity (including her own), exploring "placelessness" and pinpointing personal history as a port of entry for continual investigation of geography and environment.

Whether she's writing about queer politics, racial justice, or rape culture, writer, activist, and social media maven Carmen Rios reigns queen supreme of the feminist blogosphere, overseeing the development of safe spaces centering the feminine narrative as Managing Editor at Argot Magazine; reporting, rebelling, and truth-telling as Digital Editor at Ms.; and activating young women by melding fandom and social culture with current political issues as Co-Host of THE BOSSY SHOW podcast.

Indie-folk goddesses Elana Stone and Katie Wighton, together with their "sisters" Hannah Crofts and Georgia Mooney, cast a potent spell as All Our Exes Live In Texas, a fierce, musical foursome mixing masterful musicianship, heavenly harmonies, and a little feminism for good measure.