Kelly Clarkson may have reservations about the word feminist, but she embraces its meaning. Clarifying previous controversial comments, the “Miss Independent” singer asserted her support for equal rights for women.
"Obviously, I believe in female equal rights," Clarkson said during a recent interview with The Huffington Post. "I'm not an idiot. I'm a female. I believe in equal rights across the board."
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The Clarkson controversy dates back to the time of the release of the "American Idol" star’s first Christmas album, “Wrapped in Red,” in October 2013. In a taped interview, Clarkson told Time magazine that she wouldn’t describe herself as a "feminist," because the word was “too strong.”
“I think when people hear feminist it’s just like, ‘Get out of my way I don’t need anyone.’ I love that I’m being taken care of, and I have a man that’s an actual leader,” Clarkson said at the time. “I’m not a feminist in that sense … but I’ve worked really hard since I was 19, when I first auditioned for Idol.”
Fast forward to 2015, and Clarkson is walking away from her comments, which she claims were misinterpreted.
"I was saying that in the past decade, I feel people have associated the word 'feminist' with 'bitch' and 'man-hater' and all these things," Clarkson told HuffPost. "And I'm definitely not that girl.”
To illustrate her point, Clarkson compared the word feminist to the word diva, which she said has taken on a similarly negative connotation in society.
"Diva used to mean something great. It was a female opera singer who could floor the room. They could be like, 'Oh man, she's such a diva.' Now it's a negative term to throw around," Clarkson said. "We've kind of killed it in a sense. Just recently, people are starting to turn back around to where it's not such a negative, nasty feel to it."
Clarkson released her seventh studio album, “Piece by Piece,” on March 4. On the same day, she also announced a 36-city summer tour with Pentatonix and Eric Hutchinson.