UPDATED: Oct. 26, 2011, 11:24 a.m.

CORRECTION: In this article, the name of the feminist author and activist was inaccurate. Her name is Naomi Wolf.

More than a month after its initial conception, Occupy Wall Street is still alive and kickin’ — the social movement has gained traction across the country. But not all of the media attention has been good news.

CBS News reported Oct. 19 that police are investigating an alleged sexual assault at an Occupy Cleveland rally, involving a 19-year-old female student. Naomi Wolf, feminist author and activist, was arrested at an Occupy Wall Street protest Oct. 18. ‘I was arrested for resisting a lawful order although my conduct was peaceful, respectful, law-abiding, and orderly,’ the author wrote.

Most controversially is the ‘Hot Chicks of Wall Street’ Youtube video and Tumblr that consists of numerous photographs of females at the Occupy protests. The project drew criticism because the women didn’t always consent to the filming and photographs, which clearly objectify female protestors.

Rebecca Traister, Salon.com writer and best-selling author, said the ‘Hot Chicks of Wall Street’ is ‘an example of women participating in public life — political, professional, social — and having their participation reduced to sexual objectification. That’s what happened here, nothing more, nothing less.’

Such objectification and negative news surely discourages female participation. Why should women — demeaned and misrepresented — seek interest and actively engage in any of the national Occupy movements?

The derogatory way in which Occupy Wall Street and the mainstream media depict women is less than inspiring. But this shouldn’t deter young women from getting involved in the national Occupy movement. College-age women should participate in the Occupy protests and educate themselves about the serious issues this movement is fighting for. Women can gain attention, getting their sometimes disregarded voices to be heard and acknowledged.

But this is the beauty of the Occupy movement: There is room for inclusion of all races, gender identities, sexual identities, classes and ethnicities. Occupy Wall Street has now spread to more than 900 cities nationwide.

It is hoped the Occupy movement will grow to include more female perspectives, leaders and better female representation. This can happen as long as women take the bull by its horns, so to speak, and demand a change in coverage. Alas, there needs to be a social movement within a social movement to eliminate prejudice against women.

There needs to be a collective effort from organizers, activists, reporters, editors and news consumers to produce accurate and inclusionary pieces. Coverage should uphold a sense of equality in the social movement and the way that it is represented in mainstream culture, beyond Zuccotti Park in lower Manhattan.

Judith Butler, leading academic theorist on gender and feminism, stopped by the Occupy Wall Street protests on Sunday to demonstrate her solidarity. She relayed a message that is not pertinent to observers of the Occupy movement, and to the protesters themselves, to include women and other underrepresented people within this social movement.

‘They say that the demands for social equality and economic justice are impossible demands,’ Butler said. ‘And the impossible demands, they say, are just not practical. If hope is an impossible demand, then we demand the impossible.’

Krystie Yandoli is a senior women and gender studies and English and textual studies major. Her column appears every Wednesday. She can be reached at klyandol@syr.edu or followed on Twitter at @KrystieLYandoli.