Matt McGorry has some strong words for sleazy dudes who use feminism to get laid: Stop it. Actually, he said, “fucking stop it.”
On April 19, the “Orange Is The New Black” and “How To Get Away With Murder” actor attended a screening, along with HuffPost, for The Representation Project’s 2015 documentary about masculinity, “The Mask You Live In.”
Mic caught up with McGorry at the event and asked the actor what he would say to men who use feminism as a tactic to hit on women.
“Fucking stop it and examine your privileges,” McGorry told Mic. “If that’s what your desire is to use feminism for, then understand that you probably have a lot of work to do on yourself, not only to be a better ally but actually to be a happier human being,” adding that men “can’t be our truest and our happiest selves if our masculinity and our happiness is based on controlling others and manipulating others.”
McGorry, who recently became an ambassador for The Representation Project, joined on a conversation with Jennifer Siebel Newsom, documentary maker and co-founder of The Representation Project, after the screening about toxic masculinity.
While fans have struggled with McGorry’s feminism (as a straight, white, privileged dude), the actor was quick to repeatedly point out his privilege.
When one audience member asked McGorry how he approaches people who don’t believe in the feminist cause, the actor was quick to hedge.
“The way that I deal with it, is the way I suggest only white people talk to other white people, only men talk to other men,” McGorry told the crowd of about 60 people. “I don’t think it’s my place to say how people of color should talk to white people or how women should educate men.”
So, from man to man, please don’t use feminism to pick up women. Just don’t.
Watch the full video below.