Girl power: Hollywood's leading feminists

November 22, 2016

MEGHAN MARKLE

As a UN Women advocate, the Suits star is an active voice in the fight for women's rights around the world. The actress started her mission for gender equality at a very young age, as explained in an essay she wrote for ELLE UK. "I was just eleven years old when I was in my classroom and a commercial came on for a popular dish washing liquid. The tagline of the campaign said, “Women all over America are fighting greasy pots and pans.” The boys in my classroom yelled out, “Yeah, that’s where women belong. In the kitchen.”

My little freckled face became red with anger. I went home and wrote letters to powerhouse feminist attorney, Gloria Allred; to a host of a kids news program; to the soap manufacturer; and to Hilary Clinton (who was our First Lady at the time). With the exception of the soap manufacturer, they all pledged support – and within a few months, the commercial was changed to, “People all over America are fighting greasy pots and pans.”

Photo: © PA

<h3>MERYL STREEP</h3>
During a panel conversation with directors Ava DuVernay and Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy, moderated by Jon Stewart in 2015, Hollywood legend and Patricia Arquette ally — she gave a standing ovation during Patricia’s groundbreaking Oscar speech — defined the version of feminism that she developed for herself early in life: “I wanted to be Tom Sawyer, not Becky.”
<p>Photo: © Getty Images</p>

<h3>EMMA WATSON</h3>
In her role as UN Women Goodwill Ambassador, Emma Watson gave a powerful speech that was heard around the globe on how to truly achieve equality of the sexes: she invited men to participate in the cause. “I want men to take up this mantle. So their daughters, sisters and mothers can be free from prejudice but also so that their sons have permission to be vulnerable and human too — reclaim those parts of themselves they abandoned and in doing so be a more true and complete version of themselves,” she said when launching the #HeForShe campaign.
<p>Photo: © Getty Images</p>

<h3>HELEN MIRREN</h3>
Dame Helen Mirren has come up with the perfect solution for ending gender inequality on the big screen and in the world at large: “People often say, 'It's so terrible that women don't have great roles in movies,'" she said at Tina Brown’s Women in the World Summit in New York in 2015. "I say: 'Forget that. That doesn't matter. Change roles for women in life, and you will find the roles for women in drama.'"
<p>Photo: © Getty Images</p>

<h3>BEYONCE</h3>
Proof the feminism can be as fierce and sexy as it is politically and socially motivated, Beyoncé closed the 2014 MTV Video Music Awards with a performance and the word “FEMINIST” emblazoned on the screen behind her. "I've always considered myself a feminist, although I was always afraid of that word because people put so much on it," Beyoncé said in a short film, Yours and Mine, released in 2014. "When, honestly, it's very simple. It's just a person that believes in equality for men and women."
<p>Photo: © Getty Images</p>

<h3>VIOLA DAVIS</h3>
After making history as the first African-American woman to win an Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama for her role on <i>How to Get Away with Murder</i>, Viola gave an equally historic acceptance speech. “You cannot win an Emmy for roles that are simply not there,” she said, before going on to thank “the Taraji P. Hensons, the Kerry Washingtons, the Halle Berrys, the Nicole Beharies, the Meagan Goods, to Gabrielle Union: Thank you for taking us over that line.”
<p>Photo: © Getty Images</p>

<h3>ANNA KENDRICK</h3>
Anna Kendrick is the first to admit the underlying stigma and confusion with the word feminist and why so many people are afraid to identify as such. “There isn't a word for a member of an ethnic minority who is pro equal rights for all races, but there is a word for gender equality — and that's feminism,” the <i>Pitch Perfect 2</i> star told The Daily Beast. “Why are we afraid of that word? It exists and we can't get rid of it, so let's fight for it and embrace it.”
<p>Photo: © Getty Images</p>

<h3>LAVERNE COX</h3>
The <i>Orange is the New Black</i> actress, who became the face of the transgender movement in Hollywood, is also a flag-waving feminist. “I think transwomen, and transpeople in general, show everyone that you can define what it means to be a man or woman on your own terms,” she told Dame magazine. “A lot of what feminism is about is moving outside of roles and moving outside of expectations of who and what you’re supposed to be to live a more authentic life.”
<p>Photo: © Getty Images</p>

<h3>MATT MCGORRY</h3>
The <i>Orange is the New Black</i> and <i>How to Get Away With Murder</i> actor doesn’t look like your typical feminist — in fact, he would be the first one to speak about his own limitations in the fight for gender equality in Hollywood. “I’m embarrassed to admit that I only recently discovered the ACTUAL definition of ‘feminism,’” Matt, 28, wrote in Facebook post firmly declaring his stance on board with Emma Watson’s #HeforShe campaign: “I AM A FEMINIST.”
<p>Photo: © Getty Images</p>

<h3>PATRICIA ARQUETTE</h3>
The <i>Boyhood</i> star and Best Supporting Actress winner galvanized members of the Hollywood elite during her acceptance speech at the 2015 Oscars. “To every woman who gave birth. To every taxpayer and citizen of this nation, we have fought for everybody else’s equal rights. It’s time to have wage equality once and for all, and equal rights for women in the United States of America,” she said, and had Meryl Streep, Shirley MacLaine and Jennifer Lopez on their feet in support.
<p>Photo: © Getty Images</p>

Celebrities like Emma Watson and Meryl Streep are leading the charge to make Hollywood and the world a better, more equal playing field for women everywhere.
<p>We rounded up the vocal and passionately self-declared feminists in Hollywood today. These role models work tirelessly to remove the stigma of the "f word" and replace it with the equal opportunity for and celebration of women excelling in every aspect of their personal and career lives.</p>