Sai is a junior working at Girls for Gender Equity this summer with their Community Organizing programs.

Hello, people of the inter-webs! I’m Sai, a rising junior majoring in public policy and history, with a minor in economics – so basically, I love learning about the ways in which our past shapes our present, and how societal norms both influence and are affected by policy. Much to my parents’ chagrin, I have basically no idea what I want to do with those degrees, but I’ve got plenty of time to figure it out (I think) and I know that the Moxie Project is a great place to start.

Parvati Devi riding a tiger. She literally radiates power. So. Freaking. Cool.

The bad reputation of sati, an barbaric ritual in which women were burned alive on their husband’s funeral pyres, or the antiquated concept of dowries, are not representative of India. Some aspects of Indian culture continue to be oppressive to women, but these don’t overshadow the ways in which women are valued as the center of life in a family-oriented culture. In fact, in Hinduism, power is embodied by the goddess Parvati and her incarnations. My parents always point out that shakti is a feminine concept – talk about girl power!

The seeds of my feminism were planted by my strong, intelligent, mother, who raised me in a foreign country while my dad had to work out-of-state for weeks at a time. Although my mother was a housewife and my father the sole breadwinner, they act as equals in every part of life, making decisions together and treating each other with the utmost respect, always. They taught me to channel my natural stubbornness and competitiveness into determination. Teachers throughout my years in public school rewarded my boldness encouraged my curiosity. As an only child, this translated into a fierce independent streak and a sense of empowerment – if I set my mind to something, nothing was going to stop me.

Then, I came to Duke, and for the first time, discovered the concept of “privilege.” Add layers to it, and you get intersectionality – and my world was basically shattered. #YesAllWomen presented the ways in which all women in every society are suppressed by virtue of their gender, and I realized that it was privilege which had allowed me to escape the pitfalls that so many other women face as a result of this oppression. Sure, I’d been disgusted by cat-callers before, but I’d never had to change a route or quit a job because of it. I’d seen teachers favor male classmates over myself, but I’d never been denied opportunities because of my gender. I’d felt frustrated that I couldn’t go out and travel as freely as my male friends, but I’d never felt unsafe in my own community. My tolerance of these “innocuous” transgressions were facilitating the injustices that torment so many women less fortunate than myself. That’s when I realized I couldn’t just sit back and accept the patriarchy that abuses us all.

The Moxie Project drew me in with its spotlight on feminism and empowerment, and Girls for Gender Equity specifically attracted me because of its focus on minorities. As a “racially ambiguous” non-white immigrant, the discrimination I face as a woman in this country is compounded by the color of my skin, and I am passionate about helping girls who deal with the same issue. Not every girl gets to have the supportive upbringing that I did, but every girl deserves to feel powerful and capable of dealing with whatever the world throws at us. We’re the ones who have to change our world, and I’m so excited to work with an organization that wants to teach young girls how to take charge of their own lives and communities. The way I see it, GGE is a chance to help me exercise my shakti and help a group of girls embrace their own – and I can’t wait.