By: Laura Meyers
Anytime a woman in the spotlight swims upstream, it’s cool. The current trend in Hollywood for women is to be a mindless soldier of the feminist movement, and to do whatever Tumblr says to. So, to those women who decided to think for themselves, here’s a little shout out. You go, girls.
1. Sarah Jessica Parker
Recently, Sarah Jessica Parker came out as a humanist, but not a feminist. In an interview with Cosmopolitan UK, she said, “I’m enormously appreciative of the work that my mother’s generation did. We are the beneficiaries of a lot of disappointment, heartache, discouragement, and misunderstanding.”
She continued, “But I see a lot of people trying to sort out their roles. People of colour, gays, lesbians, and transgenders who are carving out this space. I’m not spitting in the face or being lazy about what still needs to be done — but I don’t think it’s just women anymore. We would be so enormously powerful if it were a humanist movement.”
2. Shailene Woodley
Last year, in an interview with TIME magazine, actress Shailene Woodley, denied being a feminist.
“No because 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. With myself, I’m very in touch with my masculine side. And I’m 50% feminine and 50% masculine, same as I think a lot of us are. And I think that is important to note. And also I think that if men went down and women rose to power, that wouldn’t work either. We have to have a fine balance,” she said.
And in an interview this year, she stood by her belief and explained further why she doesn’t identify with modern feminism: “The reason why I don’t like to say that I am a feminist or I am not a feminist is because to me it’s still a label. I do not want to be defined by one thing. Why do we have to have that label to divide us? We should all be able to embrace one another regardless of our belief system and regardless of the labels that we have put upon ourselves.”
3. Lana Del Ray
Lana Del Ray says, “For me, the issue of feminism is just not an interesting concept. I’m more interested in, you know, SpaceX and Tesla, what’s going to happen with our intergalactic possibilities. Whenever people bring up feminism, I’m like, god. I’m just not really that interested…My idea of a true feminist is a woman who feels free enough to do whatever she wants.”
What a concept!
But not everyone thinks so. After making these remarks, Kim Gordon, band member of Sonic Youth said “Today we have someone like Lana Del Rey, who doesn’t even know what feminism is, who believes it means women can do whatever they want, which, in her world, tilts towards self-destruction, whether it’s sleeping with gross older men or being a transient biker queen. Equal pay and equal rights would be nice. Naturally, it’s just a persona. If she really truly believes it’s beautiful when young musicians go out on a hot flame of drugs and depression, why doesn’t she just off herself?”
Well alright then. We can feel the womanly love there, Kim.
4. Marissa Meyer
Yahoo CEO Marissa Meyer noted in the documentary Makers that she is not a feminist: “I don’t think that I would consider myself a feminist. I think that, I certainly believe in equal rights. I believe that women are just as capable, if not more so, in a lot of different dimensions. But I don’t, I think, have sort of the militant drive and sort of the chip on the shoulder that sometimes comes with that. And I think it’s too bad, but I do think feminism has become, in many ways, a more negative word. There are amazing opportunities all over the world for women, and I think that there’s more good that comes out of positive energy around that than negative energy.”
And as of 2015, her net worth is $380 million, according to Forbes… soooo I’m going to listen to this chick.
5. Björk
In 2005, Icelandic singer Björk said in an interview that she doesn’t identify as a feminist. “Because I think it would isolate me. I think it’s important to do positive stuff. It’s more important to be asking than complaining,” and she continued, “You could probably call my mother a feminist, and I watched her isolate herself all her life from men, and therefore from society.”
6. Sinead O’Connor
The female rock star from the 1980’s says, “I don’t consider myself engaged in the feminist movement, I’m not educated about it to be honest. I tend to avoid anything with an ‘ist’ attached to the end of it.”
However, in response to Miley Cyrus’ Wrecking Ball performance, she wrote on Facebook, “Real empowerment of yourself as a woman would be to in (the) future refuse to exploit your body or your sexuality in order for men to make money from you.”
7. Dita Von Teese
According to the burlesque star, Dita Von Teese, feminism is what the individual makes it. You mean… like free thinking? Woah.
“I think it’s [modern feminism]… kind of turning the old-fashioned ideas of feminism upside down. [And] for me, [feminism] is about [how] you can’t decide for someone what is degrading or empowering, because some people could look at my show and say ‘oh that’s so degrading to women,’ but then you’re thinking ‘how is that degrading to women when there’s all the women who are supporting it and they’re getting inspiration from it and they’re happy to see a different version of sensuality?'”
8. Carrie Underwood
This country music debutante says, “I wouldn’t go so far as to say I am a feminist, that can come off as a negative connotation. But I am a strong female.”
That you are, my dear. We heard what you did to your ex’s truck after he cheated on you.
9. Kelly Clarkson
Kelly Clarkson told TIME magazine in 2013, “I wouldn’t say feminist — that’s too strong. I think when people hear feminist, it’s like, ‘Get out of my way, I don’t need anyone.’ I love that I’m being taken care of, and I have a man that’s a leader. I’m not a feminist in that sense.”
And of course, the media had to double-check that she was serious, and when asked to clarify, she said, “I was saying that in the past decade, I feel people have associated the word ‘feminist’ with ‘bitch’ and ‘man-hater’ and all these things. And I’m definitely not that girl. That’s what I meant by that.”
Preach.
10. Demi Moore
The beautiful actress Demi Moore says, “I am a great supporter of women, but I have never really thought of myself as a feminist, probably more of a humanist because I feel like that’s really where we need to be. I think clearly times have changed and women have made their mark in many different arenas.”
