Be still our beating hearts…
Gone are the days when masculinity was measured by an aptitude for D.I.Y, an interest in wood-cutting and the constant sporting of lumberjack shirts – screw patriarchy and cigars, now all you need to 'be a man' is a feminist mind-set.
Here are 13 empowering quotes from our favourite Hollywood men who are paving the way for us all, advocating for gender equality, fighting everyday sexism and raising the feminism flag…
1) Daniel Craig ‘Women are responsible for two thirds of the work done worldwide, yet earn only 10 per cent of the total income and own 1 per cent of the property... So, are we equals? Until the answer is yes, we must never stop asking.’
2) Andy Samberg ‘Since there have been men and women, there have been funny women… f***ing idiot-ass men keep saying that women aren’t funny. It makes me crazy. I find it disgusting and offensive every time.'
3) Jared Leto ‘I was raised by a wonderful single mom. So I’m all for women being in positions where they can actually participate and have real authority to change the world that we live in.’
4) Tom Hardy ‘There should be better parts for women than just girlfriend and wife or lover. Because I’m bored with that.’
5) Mark Ruffalo ‘My own mother fought to make herself more than a possession; she lived her life as a mother who chose when she would have children, and a wife who could earn a living if she so chose. I want my daughters to enjoy that same choice. I don’t want to turn back the hands of time to when women shuttled across state lines in the thick of night to resolve an unwanted pregnancy, in a cheap hotel room just south of the state line. Where a transaction of $600 cash becomes the worth of a young woman’s life.’
6) Prince Harry ‘We all know that when women are empowered, they immeasurably improve the lives of everyone around them. This is not just about women. We men need to recognize the part we play too. Real men treat women with dignity and the respect they deserve.’
7) Tom Hiddleston ‘I believe in the strength and intelligence and sensitivity of women. My mother, my sisters [they] are strong. My mum is a strong woman and I love her for it.’
8) Ryan Gosling ‘It's misogynistic in nature to try and control a woman's sexual presentation of self.’
9) Joseph Gordon Levitt ‘My mom brought me up to be a feminist. She would always point out to my brother and me that our culture does often portray women like objects. For example, we would always watch Lakers games as a family, but my mom would always point out every time the cheerleaders come on, ‘OK, so look, here’s the story that gets told: The men get to be the heroic skilled athletes and the women just get to be pretty.’ She didn’t mean any offense to any individual woman who was working as a cheerleader, but she wanted me and my brother to be aware of it because we see these images on TV, in the movies, and on magazines all the time. And if you don’t stop and think about it, it just sort of seeps into your brain and that becomes the way you perceive reality.’
10) Ashton Kutcher ‘I think there’s so much that’s not said about sex in our country, even from an educational level… the one thing they teach about is how to get pregnant or how to not get pregnant, but they don’t really talk about sex as a point of pleasure for women. That creates a place where women aren’t empowered around their own sexuality and their own sexual selves.’
11) Chris Pratt ‘I think it’s appalling that for a long time only women were objectified. But I think if we want to really advocate for equality, it’s important to not objectify women less, but just objectify men as often as we objectify women.’
12) Matt Damon ‘If I had a bucket list, I’d say raising my four girls to be strong, good women would be number one.’
13) Chris Hemsworth ‘My mum’s a big feminist. I think that my views on things, as far as respect for women and so on, came from my mum.’
