Kristen Stewart thoughtfully responds to speculation about her sexuality, shuts down the labels
It is an uncomfortable reality that a celebrity’s sexuality is fodder for gossip if said celebrity isn’t, you know, heterosexual. Straight is considered the default, anything else is treated as fair gossip game for the paparazzi. It’s always great when celebrities call scandal-mongers on these shenanigans. Which is why we’re giving big props today to Kristen Stewart, who spoke awesomely on the subject in a profile for the September issue of Nylon magazine.
When Nylon asked Stewart if she was “ready right now to make any big pronouncements about her sexuality?” Stewart replied “Google me. I’m not hiding.”
To her point, she’s not hiding who she is, or how she’s represented on search engines, but that doesn’t mean she’s comfortable putting a label on herself, especially if it’s just to keep the lights on over at Gossip Central.
“If you feel like you really want to define yourself, and you have the ability to articulate those parameters and that in itself defines you, then do it. But I am an actress, man. I live in the f*cking ambiguity of this life and I love it. I don’t feel like it would be true for me to be like, ‘I’m coming out!’ No, I do a job. Until I decide that I’m starting a foundation or that I have some perspective or opinion that other people should be receiving…I don’t. I’m just a kid making movies.”
For some people, articulating those parameters is a milestone, an important moment in a life and a necessary act. That’s not right for Stewart, and that’s a personal choice everyone is entitled to. Sexuality is a fluid thing, and we need to not only allow for there to be that spectrum to exist but we need to not force people to publicly define themselves by their sexuality if they don’t want to.
Things aren’t great on this front right now, but Stewart is absolutely optimistic that things ARE getting better.
“I think in three or four years, there are going to be a whole lot more people who don’t think it’s necessary to figure out if you’re gay or straight. It’s like, just do your thing.”
Like Stewart, we’re optimistic that “just doing your thing” will become a concept more and more people will understand.
Related:
Kristen Stewart tells Marie Claire she’s done with saying sorry. Yes, yes, yes to this!
Kristen Stewart and Jesse Eisenberg remind us exactly why we should #askhermore
Image via Sundance Selects
