Amandla Stenberg gets super real about defining her sexuality
Amandla Stenberg captured the hearts of Hunger Games fans when she played the ever so precocious Rue. Last year, she captured the attention of the internet when she posted a video to her Tumblr page where she explained how the mass media’s appropriation of black culture needs to be reevaluated.
The 17-year-old actress/activist (actrivist?) — who happens to have recently been crowned Feminist of the Year by the the Ms. Foundation for Women, confirming that she is, in fact, a force to be reckoned with — is back full force, this time sharing her wisdomin a Q&A with Rookie as part of their ongoing How We Live series.
Answering questions sent in by Rookie readers just minutes before she had to get ready for prom, she spent 15 minutes discussing hair, confidence, activism, gender/sexuality, pronouns, school, dealing with racism, among so many other important topics. Like:
How she identifies her sexuality:
“I identify publically as bisexual,” Sternberg says. “I would also use the word pansexual to describe my sexuality because I’m attracted to people regardless of their gender expression or gender identity. But the thing is, I’ve used the word bisexual because for people who don’t necessarily know that vocabulary or aren’t familiar with the vocabulary, it’s easier for me to just say that I’m bi.”
Because she often identifies as being bi sexual, she discusses how she handles criticism from her own community:[/subhedaer]
“I feel like, as a bisexual person, bi-erasure is so real,” she says. “And you don’t realize how deep it is until you’re really in that moment where you’re like, ‘Oh my God, I like this girl, she’s so cute. Oh wait, I’ve been lesbian the whole time.’ And then the next moment you end up hanging out with this guy, and you’re like, ‘Oh my God, I have a crush on this guy. Oh wait, I’m totally straight. I was never gay.’ And you kind of just get stuck in that because you forget that you can be both.”
Yes! She’s so very wise.
Check out the entire thought-provoking Q&A:
