The Word Taylor Swift May Understand Better Than Kim Kardashian
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Kim Kardashian West recently denied being a feminist, and she's not the only female celebrity to do so. However, many of the female celebrities who reject the label support the characteristics of feminism in words and actions. Taylor Swift, Sarah Jessica, Parker, and Kelly Clarkson have all distanced themselves from the term at some point in their careers.
Kardashian West said in an interview at the #BlogHer16 conference in Los Angeles last week that's she doesn't think she's a feminist.
“Everyone always says, are you a feminist?” she said according to BuzzFeed. “And I don’t think that I am.”
She continued to say the term doesn't work for her. “I don’t like labels," Kardashian West said, according to BuzzFeed. "I do what makes me happy and I want women to be confident and I’m so supportive of women… But I’m not the ‘free the nipple’-type girl."
The puzzling fact is that back in March, Kardashian West posted topless in a mirror for International Women's Day.
Then she posed topless again later that month with Emily Ratajkowski to encourage women to feel comfortable with their bodies, which Ratajkowski (who proudly wears the feminist title) expressed was an act of empowerment, solidarity, and celebrating female sexuality.
Other celebrities who have made feminist-sounding statements have also made a point to reject the feminist label.
Sarah Jessica Parker, the star of the sexually progressive hit HBO show "Sex in the City," has repeatedly said that she's not a feminist because it excludes men. However she's also said that she just wants everyone to be treated equally.
In 2013, Kelly Clarkson said she wasn't a feminist because she liked to be treated well by her partner and had a "man that's a leader."
"No, 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.' Clarkson said to Time. "I love that I’m being taken care of, and I have a man that’s a leader."
Taylor Swift told the Daily Beast in 2012 that she didn't consider herself a feminist because she was taught that there are no obstacles if women work hard.
"I don’t really think about things as guys versus girls. I never have," she said. "I was raised by parents who brought me up to think if you work as hard as guys, you can go far in life."
However, Swift later took that statement back for an important reason: she learned the actual definition of feminism and it shattered a popular misconception.
“As a teenager, I didn’t understand that saying you’re a feminist is just saying that you hope women and men will have equal rights and equal opportunities," she said in a 2014 interview with the Guardian. "What it seemed to me, the way it was phrased in culture, society, was that you hate men."
Although there are different ways to be a feminist, the definition of feminism centers on equality, not man-hating. Iconic feminist Gloria Steinem has repeatedly said that a feminist is anyone who believes in the "equality and full humanity of women and men."
In her hit 2013 song "Flawless," Beyonce featured the voice of Nigerian feminist Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. The author defines a feminist as such:
"Feminist: the person who believes in the social, political, and economic equality of the sexes."
The real definition of feminist is inclusive and based on equality. That's why two male world leaders can call themselves "feminists" as well. Canadian Prime Minister has Justin Trudeau publicly said (multiple times) that he's a feminist because he supports gender equality.
President Barack Obama also called himself a feminist in an opinion piece he wrote for Glamour. Although the gender wage gap still exists and sexism and rape culture are still problems in this country, Obama pointed out that things are better for women now than they were generations ago.
"The progress we’ve made in the past 100 years, 50 years, and, yes, even the past eight years has made life significantly better for my daughters than it was for my grandmothers," he wrote. "And I say that not just as President but also as a feminist."
