Young Feminists: Rowan Blanchard and Yara Shahidi
YS: Stepping into the world of TV and movies as a child actress, I saw the lack of people who looked like me. But it’s so much more than “I want to see somebody with my skin tone.” There could be 10 people who look like me on a show, but they all got killed in the first scene. Or they’re all in jail. Or they’re all the best friend. I want to see somebody who looks like me as the doctor and the criminal and the successful businessperson and the woman barely making a living. I want to see the spectrum.
RB: I remember when The Princess and the Frog came out, and there was a special about how Tiana was the first African-American Disney princess, and I was like, “What?! The first African-American princess?” I have, like, 12 princesses to choose from who look like me. I remember it being a shift. As a white person, I never had to think about representation because I always saw myself as a Disney princess. The thing about privilege is, oftentimes you don’t even have to think about the inequality when you don’t have to face it...I started thinking about the feminism I was initially being sold, which was basically that boys and girls should be equal. But there are intersections, and a lot of reasons why it is easier for me to achieve that equality than it is for some of my friends... I am figuring this out just as much as you are. I am constantly trying to check my privilege.
