In an interview with Time earlier this month, Shailene Woodley, star of the upcoming movie The Fault in Our Stars, stated loud and clear that she is not a feminist. In the comments that followed, it became apparent that it is Woodley’s misunderstanding of feminism that led her to her conclusion, not any substantive disagreement with feminism itself.
Woodley explained her position by saying that she doesn’t think she is a feminist because she “loves men.” I’m not trying to be rude or snarky, but I think someone needs to have a conversation with this woman about the difference between feminism and lesbianism. As a feminist, I’m quite fond of men, especially my husband.
Woodley further tried to distance herself from feminism by offering that she doesn’t think we should be taking power away from men and giving it to women. Here again, Woodley is severely mistaken about the definition of feminism. I also don’t think we should be “taking power away from men,” because, as a feminist, I believe in equality for all.
Creating equality doesn’t mean taking rights and opportunities away from any individual, regardless of race, gender, sexual orientation, or gender identity or expression. A great, easy example is the pay gap argument: I don’t think men should be paid less to close the gap; I believe women should be paid the same as men with the same skills and job descriptions.
What really makes my head spin is that, later in the article, Woodley goes on to explain that she believes in “the sisterhood.” In doing so, she describes a concept that sounds a lot like feminism to this Sensible Feminist: “women coming together and supporting each other and creating a sisterhood of support for one another versus hating each other for something that somebody else created.”
I know Shakespeare was a fan of the idea that “a rose by any other name would smell as sweet.” However, in 2014, there is something to be said for brand recognition. Using the word feminist to describe yourself gives a face to a movement, and that is crucial. Regular readers of this column are already familiar with my quest to reclaim the term feminist, but when I continue to see actresses in Hollywood getting queasy over the “F” word, I get a little bit annoyed.
One of the biggest female icons in history, Madonna, doesn’t consider herself a feminist either, waving instead her flag for “humanism.” I fail to see how these need to be mutually exclusive terms, or how Madonna’s strong, self-deterministic personality could be credibly distinguished from a feminist one.
I will concede that Madonna “came of age” between the second and third waves of feminism, so I can understand her initial hesitancy to declare herself out and proud as a feminist. However, the world has changed since the 1980s: Germany isn’t split into two parts by a giant wall, Like a Virgin
Woodley’s comments have lead to open letters and raised eyebrows in the feminist community, but is that enough? I know there are those out there who would excuse her naivete due to her youth, but she is 22. By the time I was 22, I was proudly sporting my “This is what a feminist looks like” T-shirt and was well on the path to fighting for gender equality. So my question is: at what point do we stop excusing these types of statements and start demanding that individuals are responsible for understanding the words they use?
I will say that I’m only focusing on Woodley’s comments because she is the the one in the news right now. As much as I like her, Taylor Swift has been guilty of making similar comments in the past, and if she had been the one speaking out, then I’d be ripping her arguments apart. Nevertheless, it is Woodley in the hot seat this time.
Perhaps because Woodley was born in the 1990s, she buys into the idea of a world where feminism is no longer necessary. It’s true that many post- and near-post-Millennials approach the world with more color-blindness, gender-blindness, and sexuality-blindness than their predecessors. In a vacuum, that is a great approach. But in the real world, assuming inequality has been eradicated when it certainly has not been only allows racism, misogyny, and homophobia to remain a part of the landscape.
It is time to have a real conversation about what the term feminist means. In light of last week’s Isla Vista killings, in which women were specifically targeted because of perceived slights by the entire gender against one disturbed young man, and the tone-deaf, ignorant, #NotAllMen response from some corners of the Internet, it is clear that there are very dangerous misconceptions to be corrected.
I hope this will be a learning experience for Woodley, as previous comments were for Katy Perry. Perhaps this fine young actress will join Perry and the rest of us, embrace the word “feminist,” and start using her fame to promote the equality she already believes in for all.