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“Girl Meets World” actress Rowan Blanchard is not your typical Disney child star. Ever since penning an essay about intersectional feminism on Tumblr, Blanchard has been anything but shy when it comes to discussing socio-political issues with her fans on social media.
In an interview with Nylon, the 15-year-old actress revealed that ever since “Girl Meets World” was canceled she’s been able to express herself and her opinions more freely, which she feels especially passionate about in today’s political climate. She explained, “as much as I loved my ‘Girl Meets World’ family, working for the Disney Channel is stressful, and I have more freedom to do what I want and talk about what I want without feeling inhibited.”
Blanchard has been particularly vocal about subjects relating to the LGBTQ community, gender equality and racial equality, and points out the importance of openly discussing important societal issues:
If Hillary Clinton had won, things would have obviously been much better, but now that we have somebody who’s the pinnacle of racism, sexism, xenophobia — all of this — we’re able to have conversations about where that started, and it was a long, long time ago.
So what are her thoughts on celebrities who remain tight-lipped about similar issues, like Taylor Swift infamously not endorsing a candidate during the 2016 election?
Specifically with celebrities that have so much power, I’m like, Maybe you wanna do something with that. But I’m not super-duper concerned with Taylor Swift as much as I am getting young girls to identify with [politics] for themselves.
As for her sexuality, Blanchard embraces the term queer and identifies as such. “I just don’t understand why you’re straight or gay,” she said. “I don’t understand why you want me to be one of two things. What is the driving force behind binaries?”
You can read her full interview here and see for yourself why this Disney star is wise beyond her years and one to watch out for.
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