Actress Megan Fox considers herself a feminist, but feminists, apparently, don’t want her in their club because she doesn’t conform to everything they believe.
Speaking with Entertainment Tonight, the former “Transformers” actress said she has felt abandoned by feminists on more than one occasion, beginning in 2009 when her horror-comedy film, “Jennifer’s Body,” bombed at the box office and failed to wow critics.
“There was so much going on with me at that time, that movie being picked apart was not at the top of [my list of concerns],” Fox told the outlet, as reported by Fox News. “Because I had such a fraught relationship with the public, and the media, and journalists, and I was struggling so much at that time in general, this didn’t stand out as a particularly painful moment, it was just part of the mix.”
During the #MeToo movement’s height, Fox remained silent. She claims that this was not due to a lack of a #MeToo moment in her life. In fact, she would have gladly come forward with her own story, but feared that she would not be seen as a “perfect victim.”
“Even though I consider myself a feminist, I feel like feminists don’t want me to be a part of their group,” she said. “What is supporting other females if there [are] only certain ones of us we support? If I have to be an academic or have to be non-threatening to you in some way? Why can’t I be a part of the group as well?”
Fox’s words echo what she told The New York Times in December of last year: “I just didn’t think based on how I’d been received by people, and by feminists, that I would be a sympathetic victim. And I thought if ever there were a time where the world would agree that it’s appropriate to victim-shame someone, it would be when I come forward with my story.”
Fox had a genuine psychological breakdown at the time and barely wanted to go out.
“I think I had a genuine psychological breakdown where I wanted just nothing to do,” said Fox. “I didn’t want to be seen. I didn’t want to have to take a photo, do a magazine, walk a carpet. I didn’t want to be seen in public at all because … I believed that I was going to be mocked, or spat at, or someone was going to yell at me, or people would stone me or savage me for just being out and being whatever.”
“I didn’t look perfect or I was too fat or too thin. I was stupid or I was offensive,” she continued. “I was a waste of space or a bad actress. Whatever you could think of, I anticipated experiencing that, because my belief system was that the world wasn’t going to accept me, so I went through a very dark moment after that.”
Despite all her troubles, Fox says that being a mother of three children (whom she shares with Brian Austin Green) saved her from this darkness. She does admit, however, that motherhood hurt her Hollywood career.
“Being a mother is not something really respected in this industry. If anything it’s considered as a handicap,” she said. “And that’s unfortunate because it’s not acknowledged, what we’re juggling, what we’re doing.”