April 21--Ohio eighth-grader Sophie Thomas became something of a feminist icon when her middle school blacked out the word "FEMINIST" from the T-shirt she wore on picture day.
Clermont Northeastern Middle School principal Kendra Young said the photo company contacted her about Sophie's T-shirt, and she asked them to erase the word before the photos were distributed to students "because some people might find it offensive," according to Women You Should Know, the news site that broke the story.
The principal has since apologized -- and the story has since gone viral, inspiring dozens of news reports and an #IDeserveFreedomOfExpression social media campaign last week.
After Young apologized, Sophie asked her if the school would be willing to host an assembly to help educate people about feminism and how it's not, you know, offensive.
"I want you to have someone come into the school and educate everyone about feminism," she said. "I want us to go to the news station together and show the people that we are working together to make this school and our community a better place for everyone."
All of which left me wondering: Who is this girl's mom, and how cool must she be?
I tracked down Christine James Thomas on Tuesday morning and asked her, mom to mom, how she raised such a strong, principled 13-year-old.
"I don't know that I ever really talked to her directly about feminism as much as equality," James told me. "I kind of have a different way of parenting than most people. Everything with us comes from a place of love."
Thomas has two daughters -- Sophie and Chloe, 22. She is no longer married to their dad, who lives in Tennessee.
"We, my girls and I, we love everyone from the very beginning," she said. "Once they open their mouths, we decide how much of our love they get to keep. I taught them you have to be kind to everyone and you have to be generous. I take parenting very, very seriously."
She said Sophie wore the Feminist T-shirt after a junior at the local high school tweeted an offensive joke about sexual assault. Sophie called him on the joke.
"Then he made some comment about her being a man-hating feminist," Thomas said. "She had made the shirt a few weeks prior and decided to wear it the next day just to irritate him."
The middle school and high school share a campus, Thomas said, so the junior would likely see Sophie in the shirt.
It happened to be picture day as well. When Sophie received her class photo two weeks later, she noticed her shirt had been altered.
"We live in a very small town and not very many people think the way we do," Thomas said. "I understand this photo hangs in the hallway and not everyone likes the word 'feminist'."
But she also understands that blacking it out was a misguided attempt at placating some closed minds that should, instead, be nudged open. Happily, it appears that the entire saga may do just that.
Women You Should Know has offered to help find a speaker for the school assembly, Thomas said, which is supposed to take place once the current round of state exams is completed.
"I'm just really, really proud of Sophie," Thomas said. "She's handled it all with such grace. She's not angry with the school. She's like, 'Mom, I just want people to learn about feminism and equality.'"
And they are, thanks to her.
hstevens@tribpub.com
