I feel like we’ve watched Maisie Williams grow up in real time and this may be weird to say, but I feel a strange sense of pride with the woman she’s becoming. She’s a child star with her head on straight. She’s a professional but still age-appropriate. She loves Game of Thrones but it isn’t her whole world. She’s managed to find a great balance and I am proud of her. The Girl has learned. The Girl is promoting the new season of GoT and she gave a long interview to Entertainment Weekly. The Girl teases the new season without blatantly lying to everyone (cough, Kit Harington), and you can read the full interview here. The Girl chats about how everyone is going to love/hate the new season and she shares her thoughts about feminism.
On Season 6: “Every year I think, “This is really cool.” But this year, as I opened the scripts, it’s so exciting because nobody knows what’s happening. They’re going to hate it, but love it, and I can’t wait….they don’t know what’s going to happen. I know the showrunners don’t take [criticism] personally any more and that’s nice. People are outraged by last season, but they secretly love it too – because they don’t know what’s really going on.
On feminism in real life: “I got asked in one of my first interviews: “Is Arya a feminist?” [I was 12 and] I didn’t even know what a feminist was….And then someone explained it to me. And I remember thinking, “Isn’t that just like everyone?” And then I realized everyone is not a feminist, unfortunately. But I also feel like we should stop calling feminists “feminists” and just start calling people who aren’t feminist “sexist” – and then everyone else is just a human. You are either a normal person or a sexist. People get a label when they’re bad. Because it works the other way, as well. A lot of men have it hard too.”
Feminism in the world of GoT: “On the show specifically, it’s always been a constant debate because women are treated badly on the show, and they’re treated well on the show. But it’s the same as the boys and the girls and the men and the animals. The themes are very dark. I get it that people don’t want to watch scenes like that. I understand, and you shouldn’t have to. But that’s the show that we’ve made, and I have no control over what’s written. I think it’s upsetting that so many people have found it upsetting. But I find a lot of things upsetting to watch. I get upset when animals get slaughtered. And lots of people are like, “But this is worse than that” – and I never understood that. I think everybody’s allowed to be upset about what they’re upset by. And once people are angry about something, you start worrying about saying the right thing instead of just saying what you mean. It’s very easy to have an opinion. Everyone’s got one. But it’s very difficult to speak up about difficult subjects when people are angry with you. People say: “Why don’t you speak up!” [and I’m thinking], “Because you all got pitchforks and you’re ready to kill us!” It’s scary if you say something wrong.
On the internet outrage machine: “I don’t want to be like, “Oh, people love to be angry,” because people have a right to be upset about scenes that upset them – just as much as people have a right to laugh at things that made them happy. Maybe I just have to get a backbone. I’m going to say this in this interview, but I wouldn’t say it with anyone else: I sometimes really worry about speaking up about feminist subjects out of fear of being bashed by women on social media. And there’s something not right there. Yeah, sometimes it’s men too. But there are women who are just nasty. I’m trying to do the best I can. I got a voice. I believe in equality and I know I have more power than the average person to reach people. And I just get petrified in case people are rude.”
She’s only 18 years old and she already has a better grasp of most of these subjects than women twice her age. I absolutely understand what she’s saying about the internet outrage machine and how the fear of lady-on-lady hatred/flame wars can keep her from speaking out about subjects. I also love the way she talks about feminism and how we should consider it the norm, and we should label non-feminists as sexists. Or misogynists. Or douchebags. Or whatever.
Photos courtesy of WENN.
YES GIRL. People who hesitate (or refuse) to call themselves feminists don’t see that if you don’t believe in feminism, you DO believe in inequality. There’s no in-between. You believe your daughter’s work is worth less than your son’s at the same job. Pretty simple.
or people just dislike labels and are mistrustful of isms. which in itself is a good thing.
if you have this black and white world view it could be a good indicator why you are alienating people.
its about the actions not the labels. there are so many people who dont believe in god but dont identify as atheists, so what? do we all have a duty to identify as atheists because so many people were tortured and murdered and still are for not believe in god by people of faith? no, we dont.
yes but equality is black and white. religion is not. they are not analogous in this situation.
There are people who don’t believe in inequality, but don’t choose to identify as feminists either because they’ve been confused by conservatives, libertarians, liberals, AND other feminists spreading ignorant stereotypes and repressive myths about what it means to be one, or because they disagree with victim-blaming, transphobia, racism, slut-shaming, or other forms of misogyny and bigotry within the movement. I don’t think we should automatically write those people off as believing in inequality. If we take the time to consider what they have to say, we can see areas where the feminist movement can improve.
But the people whose problems with feminism are about their desire to protect the ‘Traditionalist’ status quo- those are the ones supporting inequality.
Preach. What else is there to say?
Exactly! I read this earlier in the week and it made me so happy.
It can be as simple as you think normally or you are sexist. The End!
The feminism question/debate strikes again……………………
* Inserts that gif of Homer Simpson backing away quietly into a hedge!*
Idk man. The ladies are typically not the ones sending rape threats and DDoS attacks.
But her argument re: feminism is on point.
Team Arya! She is incredibly talented. They really got lucky with her, casting children is always dicey I imagine.
I like it. Provocative statement. Heaven knows we need some provocative statements.
how can you ask a 12 year old about feminism? Why are journalists so up their own behind?
She is a great example for her peers and I cannot wait any longer for GoT.
I want to see winter coming.
I love her so much. She actually inspires me with her views on these subjects. This is something that many of us can learn. To agree to disagree. Not hate on someone because there valid opinions differ from our own. Wow. Such a great girl!
i think Joss Whedon said something similiar. we are now seeing a huge push and immense pressure to identify as a feminist and all that leads to is that people will pay lip service or even use feminism to sell their crappy products. Or protect politicians from valid criticsm (no Lena Dunham, Hillary isnt the first politican being attacked for being too establishment)
everbody can claim to be something but we need people to back it up.
like no one would say they are racist but there are obviously racists.
people too often hide behind labels and we often see people saying “as a X i think that…” as if that makes an argument more valid.
prove it with your words and actions and dont just use the f word and move on.
I do like her. A lot. She might feel scared but she is brave to me. Brave enough to go unfiltered and come out looking normal and not awful, like most of them do if you catch them unguarded.
She’s got an opinion. She knows some people won’t like that opinion. And that’s ok with her. This is a cool way to be.
A really good interview. I do wish people would think harder about using the word misogynist though,it is a terrible accusation and needs to be used sparingly and when there is clear evidence to support it, not interchangeably with the word sexist. So if we replace feminism with the non gender specific sexist can we align misogyny firmly with hatred, not thoughtlessness, or disinterest or poor taste.
TEAM ARYA. *And* Team Maisie Williams.
I think this is a great argument, and, of course, true. We should shift the conversation on this.
I agree!!
Are you a feminist? Yes I’m a normal person, thanks for asking. Love it.
Me too! I’ll be using this the next time it comes up. Go girl! On another note, her shoes are killer.
Great, just like I expected!
What a smart woman. Love it!
I love her more with every interview I read. Smart as hell and a good sense of humor as well. I hope she continues to have success.
Jesus Christ, finally. Can’t believe it, but 18 year old girl just shut everyone down!! It’s actually so simple it’s tragic that it’s not this obvious to everyone.