Melissa Leo: ‘I Don’t Think Of Myself As A Feminist At All’

Not all accomplished females want to associate with the word “feminist.” New Yahoo! CEO Marissa Mayer recently called it a “more negative” term and Oscar recipient Melissa Leo feels the same way.

“I don’t think of myself as a feminist at all,” the Academy Award winning actress said. “As soon as we start labeling and categorizing ourselves and others, that’s going to shut down the world. I would never say that.”

Katie J.M. Baker of Jezebel seems disappointed by Leo’s comment, stating, “It’s frustrating that we have to add Leo to the long list of powerful women from all sorts of fields — Marina Abramovic, Marissa Meyer — who’ve recently made it clear that they shun the term ‘feminist’ even though their actions are profoundly feminist.”

I see where Baker is coming from, as it wouldn’t kill Leo to celebrate a movement that promotes the progress and success of women, but the entertainment figure is correct that we don’t have to define ourselves as feminists merely because we’ve achieved a lot and happen to have two X chromosomes. No one has to be a feminist, and the celebrity should not be ostracized or shamed for being hesitant to reduce herself to a single word.

TAGS: feminism | melissa leo

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