Feminist fatale: Who’s “hot” and “not” about feminism in Hollywood?
Beyoncé
MANILA, Philippines - She said it: Who run the world — girls! In her Video Music Awards performance, she stood in front of an enormous glowing “FEMINIST” sign. Her album also features parts from a TEDx speech on feminism by Nigerian writer Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. And on top of all of this, Beyoncé wrote an entire essay about gender equality called “Gender Equality is a Myth.” There’s a reason why we call her the Queen Bey.
Lena Dunham
Her show Girls contributes greatly to the public discussion on feminism, and it is known that Lena has spoken to other girls about feminism (Taylor Swift was one of them). Lena said, “the idea of being a feminist — so many women have come to this idea of it being anti-male and not able to connect with the opposite sex — but what feminism is about is equality and human rights. For me that is just an essential part of my identity.”
Emma Watson
The United Nations Women’s Goodwill Ambassador just recently gave a speech at the UN about feminism, which made buzz in social media. Emma calls for men to take part in the action too with the launch of her campaign HeforShe. Although critics bashed her for presenting nothing particularly ground-breaking, the fact that we can include the word “feminism” in dinner table discussion now can be attributed partly to Emma.
Miley Cyrus
Miley Cyrus doesn’t understand what the big deal is if she wants to be sexy on stage. She says she’s all about equality. In her interview with Elle she says, “guy rappers grab their crotch all f**king day and have hos around them, but no one talks about it. But if I grab my crotch and I have hot model b**ches around me, I’m degrading women? I’m a woman — I should be able to have girls around me!” Her referring to women as “hos” and “hot model b**ches” seems totally ironic, but okay: we get the point and we agree!
Taylor Swift
Once Taylor didn’t like to call herself a feminist. Until she spoke to Lena Dunham and realized what feminism was really about. She told The Guardian, “What it seemed to me, the way it was phrased in culture, society, was that you hate men. And now, I think a lot of girls have had a feminist awakening because they understand what the word means.”
Katy Perry
Another problem of a girl confused is Katy Perry. When Billboard named her Woman of the Year in 2012, she told Time magazine, “I am not a feminist, but I do believe in the power of women.” Hmm… Katy, dear, that’s the same thing. But just this year she was asked again, and her response was “a feminist? Um, yeah, actually. I used to not really understand what that word meant, and now that I do, it just means that I love myself as a female and I also love men.” She probably doesn’t know how empowering her song Roar is for all women.
Lady Gaga
Unfortunately, Lady Gaga makes it to the list of girls who clearly don’t know what feminism is about. She is quoted as saying, “I’m not a feminist! I love men! I hail men.”
Shailene Woodley
On the other end of the scale, the actress of The Fault in our Stars doesn’t want to be called a feminist at all and even argues that the term “feminist” discriminates. On the other hand, she also has a skewed idea of what it is about in the first place. She tells Time, “I love men, and I think the idea of ‘raise women to power, take the men away from the power’ is never going to work out because you need balance.”
