In her on-screen performance as Spider-Man’s love interest, Kirsten Dunst often found herself under attack. Turns out that’s nothing compared to the denunciations the actress has provoked for her comments on men and motherhood.
Speaking to Harper’s Bazaar UK, Dunst put it this way:
“I feel like the feminine has been a little undervalued. We all have to get our own jobs and make our own money, but staying at home, nurturing, being the mother, cooking — it’s a valuable thing my mom created. And sometimes, you need your knight in shining armor. You need a man to be a man and a woman to be a woman. That’s how relationships work.”
Apparently it’s not how modern feminism works. Elle Magazine tweeted that Dunst “has some funny ideas about what a relationship should be like.” Others suggested she is homophobic. Jezebel writer Erin Gloria Ryan said: “Kirsten Dunst is not paid to write gender theory so it shouldn’t surprise anyone that she’s kind of dumb about it.” And so on.
Remember, Dunst didn’t call for women not to work. Nor did she condemn those who make other choices. All she did was say she thinks we undervalue the work moms do, and that women on occasion want the man in their life to be, well, manly.
We suspect there are many women who agree with Dunst, and others who disagree but respect her right to her own views. That’s not going to please her critics here, who apparently believe in one uniform standard to be imposed on everyone.
Isn’t feminism supposed to be about leaving women free to make their own choices?