the road trip

in October, my photographer friend Emma Bernstein and I set out to write a book. Framed around a 6-week road trip across the United States, the book will include photographs, thematic essays, interviews, and diary entries. We are talking to young women--of all kinds-- about what they think and feel about feminism... if they think about it at all.
We are also photographing and interviewing influential feminists of our mothers’ generation and beyond—women whose activism and strength has changed forever what young women could hope to accomplish.
The road trip, a staple of American culture that has always represented discovery and change, is our way of getting to know our peers. Both of our mothers were deeply involved in Second Wave feminism, so we are closely connected to the movement’s history. But our roadtrip seeks to discover how other women our age, feminist or not, grapple with this history of freedom, equality, joy, ambition, sex, and love.
The trip is a way to reach both self-proclaimed feminists and the untapped resource of the “I’m not a feminist but” contingent. It’s a way to meet independent, motivated young women who are doing big things--who are living out feminism whether they know it or not--but may not identify with the label. It’s a way to confront the barriers of class, race, and culture that inevitably stand in the way of uniting half the population.
This book is about our girls. About the American city and how it nurtures us. It’s about the past and the present, and it glimmers on the future. It’s about getting out of the sensory overload bubble that is intellectual, smug New York, and meeting the American women we are dealing with. It’s about us—ambitious young women who can’t even take a road trip without thinking about turning it into a book.


CLICK HERE to visit our blog.

CLICK HERE to see more of Emma’s photos.

CLICK HERE to read about Nona and Emma in Metro New York

Photos by: Emma Bernstein