More teenage girls are defining themselves as "feminist" than anything else, according to new research.
Some 29% of teenage girls who took part in a National Citizen Service (NCS) study chose the label "feminist" - comfortably ahead of the 19% who chose "bookworm" and 10% who chose "sporty."
Natasha Lizzie of NCS credited the "feminist" label's popularity in part to former Harry Potter actress Emma Watson, who has consistently used her voice to champion greater gender equality.
"The rise of internet feminism and increasingly politically engaged youth has brought these issues to the forefront of the news agenda, and the ‘Emma Watson effect’ has done brilliant things for the cause," Kizzie said. "She inspires young people to never limit their expectations of what they can achieve on the basis on their gender. I am heartened by our findings, and I hope this increasing empowerment of young people continues."
One respondent to the study said of Watson: "She uses the power and fame she gained from the Harry Potter series to speak about important issues like feminism." Another said of the actress: "She's a big feminist. She frequently speaks out on sexism and other discrimination issues such as racism and homophobia, and what she says really inspires me."
However, more disappointingly, just 5% of teenage boys who took part in the study chose the label "feminist." This was far behind the proportion of teenage boys who chose the labels "gamer" (39%), "intellectual" (25%), "techie" (12%), and "athlete’"(13%).
The NCS study also found that LGBT teens were more than three times as likely to pick the label "feminist" than heterosexual teens (40% compared to 13%). Meanwhile, white and Asian teens were more likely to identify as feminists (19% and 15%) than Black teens (5%).
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