13 Female Celebs Who Clapped Back at Sexism

For all her success on the pop charts and the numerous times she's unapologetically spoken her mind (check out her Twitter feed!), it's somewhat surprising that Ri-Ri isn't often heralded as a role model for young women. The singer and beauty line owner fully embodies feminism, leading an authentic life where she remains true to herself. Not one to shy away from

YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE: upending the status quo when it comes to sexism and societal expectations of women, Rihanna also exhibits zero qualms about proudly flying her single flag. When MTV News famously asked her who she was dating (instead of bringing up her accomplished career), the Bajan singer quickly responded with, "I'm not looking for a man. Let's start there."

Not one to back down from a red carpet confrontation, the Oscar-winning Aussie has routinely called out the subtle sexism that exists at high-profile events. While fashionistas swoon at the thought of A-listers gracing the red carpet, videographers might want to think twice about panning up and down the bodies of Hollywood's formidable female contingent. We'll never forget the moment during the 2017 SAG Awards when Blanchett, ever the vocal feminist, crouched down as a cameraman slowly scanned over her body and asked, "Do you do that to the guys?" (No, they don't, Cate, and we're so glad you pointed it out.)

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It's a modern Hollywood mystery: how has Amandla Stenberg managed to fly under the radar despite that the fact that she is a force to be reckoned with — the forward-thinking intersectional-feminist that openly discusses the rampant racism, homophobia and sexism in mainstream culture. Thanks to her breakthrough role as Rue in The Hunger Games and her star turn in The Hate U Give, Stenberg's star has been steadily on the rise as she continues to gain a slew of young female fans who look up to the gender-fluid 21-year-old. But how she hasn't skyrocketed to the levels of fame as some of her contemporaries is baffling. The Ms. Foundation for Women named her as their Feminist Celebrity of 2015, while Time gave her the title of Most Influential Teen (in both 2015 and 2016). As she said, “My activism does not need proof to be real. It exists in the work of my bones against weight in the morning.”

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From her intersectional feminist book club, Our Shared Shelf, to her viral 2015 UN speech on gender equality, Emma Watson has carved a formidable path for herself outside of her breakthrough role as Harry Potter's bestie, Hermione Granger. So when Watson was shamed as a "hypocrite" for showing a little under-boob in a 2017 Vanity Fair photo shoot, many came to her defense. Not that Watson needed help finding the right words for the situation: “Feminism is about giving women choice. Feminism is not a stick with which to beat other women with. It’s about freedom, it’s about liberation, it’s about equality. I really don’t know what my tits have to do with it. It’s very confusing."

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Let's set aside the sexist "feud" narrative the tabloids are creating between Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, and Kate, Duchess of Cambridge, for a moment and instead focus on all the good the former UN Ambassador for Women has done since her rapid ascent into the Royal Family. It hasn't been an easy transition for the duchess, who has been hounded by a sexist, racist tabloid industry dead-set on bringing her down for simply daring to marry into their precious royal institution. But she's stayed true to her feminist roots, which date back to the age of 11 when the California native wrote a letter to Proctor & Gamble asking them to change the wording of a sexist ad — which they subsequently did. To list all of Markle's advocacy work and soundbites on sexism would require more space, so we'll just end with one of our favourite quotes of hers: "Women don’t need to find their voice, they need to be empowered to use it and people need to be urged to listen."

Helen Mirren has been fighting the good fight since well before international audiences watched her take home the Oscar for her role in The Queen. Most famously, back in 1975, the then-30-year-old was preparing to tackle the role of Lady Macbeth with the Royal Shakespeare Company when she agreed to a televised interview with host Michael Parkinson – a chat that quickly turned sour and serves as a grim reminder that we still have a long way to go. The interview started off with a baffling choice by Parkinson to introduce the respected thespian as a "sex queen" who was "especially telling in projecting sluttish eroticism." It only got worse, with Parkinson using air quotes to call Mirren "a serious actress" before bluntly asking whether her "equipment" is a hindrance in her career. Not missing a beat, Mirren quipped, "Because serious actresses can’t have big bosoms is that what you mean?" Parkinson replied, "‘I think it might detract from the performance, if you know what I mean." Credit to Mirren for keeping a level-head in the face of such idiocy, as she replied, "What a crummy performance if people are obsessed with the size of your bosom ... I would hope that the performance, and the play, and the living relationship between all the people on the stage and all the people in the audience overcome such boring questions."

Hollywood, and society in general, is rife with problematic examples of gender biases — and it's an issue that few celebrities have successfully tackled in their work. Enter: Margaret Cho. In 2015, the unfiltered comedian spear-headed a Funny or Die short titled, "If Women Ran Hollywood," in which she demonstrates (and skewers) what casual sexism and objectification look like when the tables are turned on men. In the short, Cho leads a TV writers' room meeting in which they have to address concerns from the network about the character development of the male lead in their series, The DUFF and the DILF. It's a biting satire that delivers solid examples of the issues women face throughout the workforce – and in the hands of Cho, no stone is left unturned.

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Serena Williams continues to weather what she calls rampant sexism in the tennis world. In a 2018 encounter that went viral, the 23-time Grand Slam champion confronted umpire Carlos Ramos, calling him a "thief" for handing her a point penalty during a match. "I'm here fighting for women's rights and for women's equality," she told CNN. "He's never taken a game from a man because they said 'thief.' For me, it blows my mind. But I'm going to continue to fight for women." As for that irritating habit reporters (and the general public) have of calling women "female athletes" while men are simply "athletes" — well, the tennis star has a few thoughts on that as well. In direct response to a reporter's question asking what she thinks of being called "one of the greatest female athletes of all time", Williams didn't miss a beat with her brilliant response. "I prefer the word 'one of the greatest athletes of all time.'"

The Emmy-winning Canadian actress of cult-favourite Orphan Black garnered plenty of headlines a couple years ago after she gave a frank interview with People about Hollywood's sexist beauty standards and the power struggle that often comes when going through the audition process. When asked whether she’s ever been asked to change her physical appearance, Maslany says she's been told to shave her armpits. “And wax my mustache, which I refused to do!” she adds. “I don’t think that any woman in this industry hasn’t [experienced sexism] — I think we all have in various ways, and sometimes you can’t even tell that it’s happening because it’s so ingrained in the way things are structured."

When the four-time Olympic gold-medal-winning gymnast Simone Biles appeared on Dancing With the Stars in 2017, she quickly slayed the competition — unsurprising when one considers her floor routines and incredible work ethic. So it was incredibly disappointing when judges Carrie Ann Inaba, Julianne Hough and Tom Bergeron decided to provide feedback after one her dance performances that essentially boiled down to "you're talented, but you need to smile more." The casual sexism behind telling women to smile reached a fever pitch during the 2016 election when Hillary Clinton was slammed for not smiling. So when Biles responded to the "criticism" she became an even greater role model for young women by simply stating, "Smiling doesn't win you gold medals."

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Rapper, singer and flutist Lizzo has had one hell of a year, skyrocketing to fame with her sleeper hit "Truth Hurts" and the female empowerment anthem, "Like a Girl." Since topping the charts, the artist has proven to her legion of (mostly female) fans that she practices what she preaches when it comes to addressing issues such as racism, fatphobia and sexism. As someone who has faced all three forms of discrimination at various times throughout her life and career, Lizzo uses her platform as a means to show her authentic self — which in turn is giving her followers a sense of empowerment they might have felt was lacking in their lives. As she said in a revealing interview with The Cut, "I say I love myself, and they’re like, ‘Oh my gosh, she’s so brave. She’s so political.’ For what? ... That’s just hopping on a trend and expecting people to blindly love themselves. That’s fake love. I’m trying to figure out how to actually live it.”

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Ariana Grande has her fair share of devoted fans and detractors, but there's no denying the pint-sized superstar knows how to hold her own when facing down a barrage of sexist interview questions. In a filmed radio chat with Power 106, Grande shut down a series of increasingly sexist comments that started when the hosts asked her to choose between wearing makeup or using her phone one last time. A visibly surprised singer responded with, "Is this what you think girls have trouble choosing between?" When the topic of the unicorn emoji popped up, it was quickly dismissed by the hosts as something only "girls" liked. Grande immediately shut down the categorization. "You all need a little brushing up on equality over here," she said, before closing out the interview. "I've changed my mind. I don't want to hang out with Power 106 anymore."

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It's never too late to learn, change and adapt. And actor and civil rights activist Jane Fonda isn't afraid to admit when she's wrong. The Oscar-winner acknowledges she was a "late bloomer" when it came to feminism and fighting for equality, but she's more than made up for lost time as a prominent women's rights campaigner. “I began to identify myself publicly as a feminist, although it would be many years before I would look within myself and locate the multiple ways in which I had internalized sexism and the profound damage that it had done to me,” she wrote in online newsletter Lenny. “When I turned 60 and entered my third and final act, I decided that I needed to heal the wounds patriarchy had dealt me. I didn’t want to come to the end of my life without doing all I could to become a whole, full-voiced woman.”

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