Meet the founder

Francesca Casciari

“I believe that by introducing a philosophical and classical dimension to the conversation that surrounds sexism and women’s rights, teenagers can better understand the fundamental roots that reinforce sexist ideologies and institutions worldwide.”

My name is Francesca Casciari, and I am a sophomore at Duke University. Before that, I went to the Nightingale-Bamford School in New York City. As a young woman who’s attended an all-girls school since the age of five, studying women’s rights has always been at the forefront of my academic career. Whether it was reciting Abigail Adams’ “remember the ladies” letter in elementary school, or just recently studying the ideological foundations of Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton’s brave endeavors, I’ve always been electrified by the work of the dedicated women who came before me. Struck by awe and admiration, it never occurred to me that my womanhood could become evidence of my supposed inferiority and serve as a justification for my and a whole gender’s mistreatment. That is, until the year 2016. 

When Hilary Clinton ran for president, I, like so many other girls, saw myself standing behind a podium, bringing hope to millions of Americans. When I thought of her name on a ballot, it was no longer difficult to imagine the letters rearranged, and to see Francesca Casciari, instead, written on the ticket. It wasn’t until later that year, when I ventured onto the city’s subway, that I was awoken to an American culture deeply ridden with misogynistic sentiments. I heard anti-woman slurs spewing from fellow New Yorkers’ mouths and saw posters with sexist propaganda hung on the station’s walls. I sat with my head down, humiliated, until I reached my stop. Being a woman was not as easy, or as prideful, as I had once thought.

As I grew older and more aware, I took the shame I felt in my gender that day and transformed it into a passion to identify and dismantle misogynistic systems and institutions globally. And while that’s a mighty claim, this website serves to be the first step in my battle against sexism.

Aligned with Ibram X Kendi’s notion of being antiracist as the better aspiration than simply not being racist, Being Anti-Sexist is a website I created with the intention of empowering teenagers globally to both identify and challenge mysogynistic practices within society by educating them about the ancient foundations that have long supported their perpetuation. I believe that by introducing a philosophical and classical dimension to the conversation that surrounds sexism and women’s rights, teenagers can better understand the fundamental roots that reinforce sexist ideologies and institutions worldwide. I hope Being Anti-Sexist ignites passions within my peers and emboldens them to join me in this battle against sexism.

Meet the team

  • I’m a senior at Marymount Highschool in Los Angeles, CA and founder of The Community Cupboard, a donation-run fridge and pantry that serves the families of the Boys and Girls Club of Venice, CA. Our goal is to ensure that no family goes without essentials or healthy food. We include in those essentials menstrual hygiene products.

    Going to an all-girls high school has taught me to be confident in myself and not let my gender limit my goals. But I know that not every girl has the same experience. I have grown up surrounded by strong women who have taught me the value of fighting against sexism, and as more and more rights are being stripped away from women, I think it is necessary now more than ever to speak up and do as much as we can. I hope that by shedding light on ways that sexism has been perpetuated by society we can help to bring change.

  • I’m Rhea, founder of The Goddess Project and firsthand witness to the obstruction of female potential around the globe. I was born in Washington state, but when I was six years old we relocated to India, where I had my first experience with the menstrual taboo. When I returned to the USA, I did not expect this taboo, or period poverty to follow me. But I began to see it everywhere: in the looks the cashier would give you as you checked out hygiene products, in the way they would ask if you wanted a bag even though that’s all you bought, in the way male teachers grew uncomfortable when you asked if you could use the restroom, and even in girls missing school because they did not have access to hygiene products.

    In 2017, I helped pass the Protecting Girls’ Access to Education in Vulnerable Settings Act, through lobbying on Capitol Hill and speaking directly with senators Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell, among others. In 2021, I brought my advocacy work home and founded The Goddess Project. So far, we have donated products to cover more than 200,000 menstrual cycles in Washington state, and are currently working to support a bill in New Jersey, where I study, that will bring free hygiene products to all schools.

  • I am a current senior at the Westminster Schools, located in Atlanta, Georgia. As early as 2nd grade I had an earnest passion for the medical field. At first, I set my intention to become a pharmacist, but given my strengths in leadership and public speaking, I felt there must be other ways to engage medicine but, specifically, its broader social impact on people and communities.

    Through research and mentorship I discovered a curiosity for not just medicine but the field of Public Health. I’m particularly interested in how access to quality health care is experienced differently depending on one’s race, class, gender, etc. For example, in my own city of Atlanta, rates of HIV, teen pregnancy, and breast cancer are issues that impact women of color.

    How do we create an equitable system that serves everyone? As a 12th grader, I’m hoping to be a key leader and voice in addressing this issue.

  • I am a current senior at Robinson Secondary School in Northern Virginia, and have been writing poetry since my freshman year of high school, after my amazing English teacher encouraged me to try it out. He saw how much I enjoyed our Shakespeare unit and really helped me discover the poet inside me. He unfortunately passed in the summer of 2020, but everything he taught me will forever be in my heart and in my writing.

    My writing has previously been in some student run journals, on Teen Ink, Youth Be Heard, The Weight Journal and on my personal website. I was a semifinalist in the Youth Be Heard 2020 writing contest and a finalist in the Idyllwild Creative Writing Scholarship Contest.

    Besides writing I enjoy playing tenor saxophone in my school’s marching band and jazz band, making jewelry, and skateboarding.

  • My name is Cameron Weismer and I am a Junior at Scarsdale High School in Scarsdale, New York. I am passionate about women’s rights and the need for gender, socioeconomic, and religious equality.

    I serve as an advisor to incoming freshmen as part of my school’s Civic Education program, I’m a member of humanitarian group Women for Women, and an active participant in Jewish advocacy program Leaders For Tomorrow, which works to fight anti semitism and other social injustices. I am also a Fellow of Kol Koleinu, an advocacy program for feminist teens dedicated to facilitating discussions about gender based problems and how to create solutions.

    I’m a contributor to “Being Anti-Sexist” to help raise awareness of current and relevant news that relates to gender inequality. My whole life I’ve been surrounded by strong women who have taught me to stand up for myself and I want to do my part to show how every voice makes a difference and to help encourage others — especially those with less resources — stand up for what they believe in.

  • Zachariah Nydes is a current senior at the Buckley School and the creator of ActingOutPhilosophy.com, an organization working to introduce the everyday uses and benefits of Philosophy for teens, as well as theories that help us make meaning of the world in general.

    Zac believes that by encouraging philosophical thought to other young adults, he can help influence people to think deeper about the social and political issues around them and encourage people to share their observations.

    Beyond ActingOutPhilosophy, Zac enjoys acting, playing the piano and hiking; He is a dual citizen of both the US and UK, currently living in Santa Monica, California.