Game of Thrones actress and exceptionally bright teen Maisie Williams is one of the ballsiest celebrities on social media. Her amazing Instagram feed features a video comparison between her eyes and vaginas, and to celebrate 1 million followers on Twitter, she launched a YouTube channel to promote her views on equality and anti-bullying. It goes without saying that Williams wouldn’t make flippant comments about feminism without expecting them to reverberate all over the internet. Especially in light of Game of Thrones copping so much flack last season for apparently anti-feminist plot lines.
Williams recently opened up about her thoughts on the fan backlash, revealing that interviewers started asking if she was a feminist before she even knew what the word meant. Now that she obviously does, she has some thoughts on the label.
“I remember thinking, ‘Isn’t that just like everyone?’ And then I realized everyone is not a feminist, unfortunately,” she recently told Entertainment Weekly. “But I also feel like we should stop calling feminists ‘feminists’ and just start calling people who aren’t feminist ‘sexist’ — and then everyone else is just a human. You are either a normal person or a sexist.”
Williams raises an interesting point. It’s not that “feminist” is a negative word, simply that it might safeguard people who don’t possess basic human decency. There’s no special word or metaphorical cookie given to someone who isn’t a racist — you’re just not a racist. Turning the focus to sexism rather than feminism would at least provoke far more riveting responses to interview questions.
Credits
Text Hannah Ongley
Photography Jamie Hawkesworth