Women Who Refuse To Call Themselves Feminists Are Ridiculous
What is a feminist? Someone who supports feminism. What is feminism? The belief that men and women should be afforded the same rights and opportunities. It’s amazing to me that one of the highest paid actresses in television — who clearly has benefited from feminism — refuses to define herself as a feminist:
“It’s not really something I think about. Things are different now, and I know a lot of the work that paved the way for women happened before I was around … I was never that feminist girl demanding equality, but maybe that’s because I’ve never really faced inequality.”
It’s “not something you have to think about” because you are benefitting from all the other women willing to speak up for equality and define themselves as soldiers for the cause.
Somewhere along the way, “feminist” became a dirty word. I’m not sure how it happened. Equality is not a concept that anyone should be shying away from. The only people who turn away from the concept of equality are those who are in the majority and don’t want to admit that others deserve the same things they do. Why would you want to align yourself with such a person by shunning a concept that exists to lift everyone up?
Yes, I’m calling her stupid. Because being so blinded by your own privilege that you are unwilling to educate yourself about a movement that has totally benefitted you is tone-deaf at best. Women are still fighting for equal pay in the workplace. They are still fighting to not be seen as solely sexual objects. They are still being victimized and physically harmed — partly due to a society that believes that a woman who would ask to be equal to her male counterparts is simply a nuisance — something to be “handled.” It’s damaging when celebrities who have a giant platform speak against something they know nothing about.
What if we reframed the question to “Do you consider yourself someone who believes in equal rights for all people?” How would we feel about Cuoco responding, “Is it bad if I say no?”
Because, that’s essentially what happened.
(photo: Getty Images)