Christine Lahti talks about being a feminist, coming to understand how Kim Kardashian's photos make
458 views · Published 15 December 2018 · 4:25 · Indexed 2 October 2026
Channel: AP Archive · 2018 · Entertainment
(10 Dec 2018) CHRISTINE LAHTI TALKS ABOUT BEING A FEMINIST, COMING TO UNDERSTAND HOW KIM KARDASHIAN'S PHOTOS MAKE HER A FEMINIST TOO Christine Lahti currently plays Gloria Steinem on Broadway in the play "Gloria: A Life." The role is a fitting one for the actress, who is a passionate feminist. She says she was introduced to the women's movement while attending college at the University of Michigan in 1970. She credits the feminist movement for helping with her acting career. "It was not only cool, it was a life jacket. It was essential. My feminism helped me navigate through a world that I felt didn't really like women, especially being in showbusiness. There was so much sexism and casting couch behavior. It allowed me to say no and walk out of some offices," she said. Lahti says she's certain along the way that some people have been turned off by her convictions. "Yeah, I probably was known as a kind of, you know, B-word probably or, you know, too strong or too whatever but that's who I was and yes, I did turn down roles that I felt were portraying women in a less than three-dimensional way. I wanted to be accountable as an artist, as a feminist. I wanted to put out images of women that were positive. I never wanted to play just the sex object. I would never do nudity - that was really forbidden in my, in my world because I felt that probably it was going to be gratuitous and probably the guy wasn't going to be nude and it probably meant that my character was not very complex." She's also quick to add that she's made mistakes and "stumbled off the feminist wagon" at times. One thing she's come to understand is that some women choose to do nudity on screen, and that doesn't mean they're objectifying themselves. "I think it's changed now. I think women feel a lot more comfortable with doing that and don't feel like they're going to be objectified or devalued because they appear nude in a movie. In those days, back in the seventies and eighties, I really felt that that was the last thing I wanted to do in order to be respected as an actor and that was key to me. Respect was always what I was after. Yes, fame and fortune was like a nice thing to get but respect was everything to me." She credits her daughter for enlightening her on how Kim Kardashian's sexy selfies are also a form of self-empowerment. "As a second wave feminist, I felt I had to deny my sexuality. I mean, not that I wasn't very sexual but I did not want to appear that way. I wouldn't even wear skirts or dresses. I didn't even wear makeup except for, for auditions and that was my, what a lot of me and my girlfriends thought was the only way to not be objectified was... Society was already objectifying us. We didn't need to help them by looking and appearing sexy. We wanted to be respected for our intelligence, our talent, our achievements. So when I first saw Kim, Kim Kardashian, I was completely perplexed. And she's calling herself a feminist and... I mean, she's taking these pictures of her butt and her beautiful body? And I thought, 'OK, how does this reconcile?' And then my daughters' friends and my daughter - they basically taught me that this new wave of feminism, the millennial feminism, is so much more I think empowered to embrace all parts of themselves and if they want to appear sexy and objectify themselves, that's a celebration of their sexuality and tough if some guy is going to think less of them because to them, it's a celebration of every aspect of themselves and I think that is such a beautiful thing actually." Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter: https://twitter.com/AP_Archive Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/APArchives Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/APNews/ You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/youtube/5a77af7a7e9c61b800ed70b04f05e0f0
