Making Feminism Digestable

I am involved in a program every summer that teaches girls in high school how to be more active in government. I give a course during the week on women in media. My course breifly discusses feminism outwardly but it is a main theme one can notice throughout the 4 days. I try to cover how suffrage and feminism are presented in the media and from there move through how what women wear and our body shape are scruntinzed, ending with female characters in the books they are reading.

This year is my third year giving the course. My struggle is: how do I make feminism digestable and exciting to girls that are 16 and 17?

I draw "young(ish)" Hollywood into the discussion: Lady Gaga, Britney Spears, Jennifer Lawrence...
I use Disney and the altering of princesses and other characters for marketing purposes.

In a world where feminist is the "f word" we're most afraid to use, how do you teach vulnerable teens that feminism is something they need?

I am reading How To Be a Woman by Caitlin Moran as reasearch for my class. And because I can. I have just finished up the chapter where Moran realizes she is a feminist. She describes reading Germaine Greer's work and summing up the idea of feminism as "scornful of any useless inherited bullshit. New; fast; free. Laughing, and fucking, and unafraid to call anyone out-from a boyfriend to the government-if they are stupid or wrong. And LOUDLY. LIKE ROCK MUSIC." She goes on to point out that feminism is often used negatively "to stop women behaving as freely, normally, and unself-conciously as men. Even-in some extreme cases-suggesting that acting as freely, normally, and unself-conciously as men is destroying other women."

Last year I had 84 girls take my course. The first year, 7. I am hoping for another large group but I will be happy with 7 again. What matters is that these girls get to see that they are not wrong for being ambitious or for wanting to be on equal footing as their peers regardless of gender.

In my effort to keep my topics current and evolving, I am adding Mindy Kaling and taking out Grace Jones. Lord knows these kids don't know who Grace Jones is (and it is a damn shame).

But the question remains,

How do I make this topic a little less hairy legs/flannel and more exciting...more rock and roll?

Suggestions welcome.