Tracee Ellis Ross says she finds people who still have issues with the label “feminist” a bit “confusing.”
In an interview with NY Mag, the Black-ish star admits that she herself didn’t completely grasp the word when she was younger. “I think I had a sort of peripheral relationship to it. Everyone thought feminism was a dirty word, and I never really understood why.”
She now understands the title best from Gloria Steinem’s definition. “It means you believe in the equality for everyone. If you look back at what I believe and what I stand for, I am certainly a proud feminist.”
Tracee Ellis Ross Wants TV Roles That Reflect Our Real Lives
Ross reveals that her Black-ish character Rainbow Johnson is also a feminist as displayed in an opening scene when Johnson’s husband asks if his gay sister will take her fiancée’s name. “I say, ‘Why does it matter? I didn’t take yours.’ He says, ‘What do you mean?’ and I say, ‘What are you talking about? I’m a feminist.’ So we state that ‘Bow is a feminist,’ and from there it was very interesting, some of the things that were written,” says Ross.