orangerful | things that make me rage a bit

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things that make me rage a bit

Does anyone else fly into a rage when they see comments like this from female celebrities saying they are not feminists because of [insert reason that makes no sense] here?

Like, to the point that you can't listen to their music or watch them on screen again because it makes you feel a little sick?

And not in a million years would I have guessed that Taylor Swift would be SO smart and well spoken. I'm glad that she is using her power for good. I will be deleting all of these other women from my life and adding more Taylor Swift because she is not just entertaining me but fighting for me too!

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I'm glad that she is using her power for good.

I'm glad she's using her influence to help people too, because that's what people with a lot of influence should do.

You are very much not alone my friend. It INFURIATES me because it shows such an incredible amount of ignorance as well...

Anyway. I love Tay the queen for many reasons, and that is definitely one of them :)

I am late to the Taylor Swift game, I had dismissed her as bumble gum but I have the new album on rotation now. She has definitely grown as both an artist and a person.

Her and Emma Watson should rule the world now.

You're not alone. It's really disappointing whenever I hear women celebrities (particularly ones I have admired) say they're not feminists. Some of them are incredibly misinformed and just need to educate themselves on the subject (example: Taylor Swift (♥), who has grown up and matured in her views from when she started out, showing that people can change once they've gained more knowledge and an understanding on the topic at hand), but others just stay willfully ignorant. The latter is worse when it's combined with them spewing inaccurate information about the movement, such as "oh I'm not a feminist, I love men!" or "I'm not a feminist, I believe in equal rights." And it hurts my heart and my brain that they can be that ignorant. Never mind that such statements further perpetuates the misinformation spread about feminism, therefore adding to such negative connotations and misconceptions that is associated with it. It's a vicious cycle that needs to stop.

Unfortunately, because the whole "are you a feminist?" question has become quite a buzz topic whenever interviewers ask celebrities this, it can either go of two ways: either they are or they aren't, and the ones who say they aren't will more often than not say something brainless or enraging to back up their stance. Some just shy away from labeling themselves as such, even though they hold the same views.

(And indeed, there are still issues and problems within the movement itself re: intersectionality which should be addressed more, but overall the concept is something everyone should be apart of in protection of not just women, the LGBTQ+ community, and other minority and oppressed groups, and men are in this as well, since they too are harmed by the patriarchal expectations that feminism is trying to fight against.)

Edited 2015-04-05 04:52 (UTC)

I think quotes like this just take the issues off the table and again make women fight women. Instead of asking a question about women and equality or just equality in general, they were clearly just asked Are you a Feminist and these young women responded to that, distracting us from the actual issues and making me upset with them. Now I'm mad at myself for falling for it!

PREACH

I never look at these magazines. Somewhat for this reason.

This showed up on my tumblr feed...I have now been informed that it is from J-14, a magazine for young tweenage girls...which has upset me all over again.

Not really. I see no reason to hate on anyone just because they don't label themselves as a feminist. People, even celebrities, are allowed their own opinions. I always see these women make these comments and get such hate spewed at them in the comments section and never get it. I always hate that they end up being forced to apologize because they don't want to label themselves and somehow that makes them evil. And just because they don't label themselves as feminists doesn't mean they aren't fighting for women, men, animals, or anything else.

Stacey

I wouldn't say "hate" because I can't really hate someone for those statements, but it does make me lose a chunk of respect. I know they were probably taken out of context, it would be better to read the entire interview or response. It is just too bad that they don't understand that saying you are a feminist just means that you believe men and women should be treated equally. Clearly they have bought into the bias that it is a dirty word, man-hating, etc. And I can forgive Shailene, she is young and I think a lot of young women have been taught to associate feminism with a negative thing, but I am disappointed in Kelly Clarkson and Carrie Underwood who have been in the world a spell.

And then there's Emma Watson. ♥

SHE has blown me away this past year. Again, so glad she is using her powers for good.

I get more depressed and disappointed, but it does affect my ability to appreciate their work, which then makes me MORE depressed and sad because DAMNIT I REALLY LIKED THIS SONG AND NOW IT'S RUINED BY DUMBNESS.

Also because it means Rush Limbaugh won in his stupid asshole battle to make "feminist" a bad word, and I hate it when that gristly old walrus wins at anything.

I think the thing that makes it extra frustrating is when their songs are about empowerment and taking a stand but then they say "well, I'm not really into that". It's like DO YOU NOT LISTEN TO THE WORDS COMING OUT OF YOUR OWN MOUTH?

Ugh, Rush Limbaugh. Every time I see his stupid children's book series, with that "award winning" across the top, I gag.

Oh, Shailene Woodley too! :-( That's sad when she's the lead of one of the current big YA franchises. It reminds me of when I found out that Jennifer Lawrence had denied Mystique's bisexuality and then added that maybe she had had a lesbian phase. *dead of shock*

I can almost forgive Shailene because she is so young. Like someone pointed out above, Tayor Swift didn't know what the word "feminist" meant until much later and now she is embracing the idea and being vocal about it. I'm really disappointed in the likes of Kelly Clarkson and Carrie Underwood, who have been in the business long enough, must have seen all the issues in real life, but are still too afraid to use this word.

Taylor Swift = awesome. <3 And goof for you for cutting out the negative in your life!

I try to stay as positive as I can about things but yeesh, seeing stuff like this show up on my tumblr feed makes me sad.

Yes this. I actually avoid reading things from celebrities because it just makes it harder for me to enjoy their work when I read stuff like this.

More Taylor Swift yay <3

I am VERY picky about my fandoms and the people I support so when I see stuff like this, I really do feel like they have to be removed from my collection. And maybe they will grow a bit and realize that it is not a dirty word. And I'm sure this stuff was taken out of context, it's single phrase...but still, if someone sees these phrases and is a huge fan of them, they might also decide that being a "feminist" is a dirty word.

Welcome to the fold, my dear.

Swifty's smarter than people give her credit for, but I think that's coming out especially with this last album. That said, she's always had that in her, and only recently herself figured out that 'feminist' is not a dirty word, as you say, so yeah--people can change.

And Emma Watson should totally be empress of the world.

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