I'm a feminist, so I believe in a woman's right to choose to make a sandwich or not make a sandwich. Her body, her sandwich fixings, her choice!
Personally, I hate cooking and yes, I include "making a sandwich" under the umbrella of "cooking." But I appreciate a male ally even more than I hate making sandwiches, and it doesn't hurt when that male ally is also famous and fine. Here are seven celebrities of the male persuasion who have passionately supported gender equality, and as a result, I would passionately make them a sandwich. Just one, though. I've got shit to do.
1) Mark Ruffalo
In 2013, the Kids Are All Right actor penned an open letter in which he staunchly defended reproductive rights and described his own mother's illegal abortion. You can read the whole thing here but here's a snippet:
I am a man. I could say this has nothing to do with me. Except I have two daughters and I have a mother who was forced to illegally have an abortion in her state where abortion was illegal when she was a very young woman. It cost $600 cash. It was a traumatizing thing for her. It was shameful and sleazy and demeaning. When I heard the story I was aghast by the lowliness of a society that would make a woman do that. I could not understand its lack of humanity; today is no different.
Also, last year, Ruffalo shared a passionate defense of feminism by writer Libby Ann Bruce, “My response to the ‘I am not a feminist’ internet phenomenon…" on his personal Tumblr page and it went viral.
I'd make him a triple-decker sandwich with sliced turkey, bacon, lettuce and tomato.
2) John Legend
John Legend is not only a feminist himself, but he believes all men should be, too. In 2013, ChrissyTeigen's ball-and-chain announced during a press event that "All men should be feminists. If men care about women's rights the world will be a better place." He added: "We are better off when women are empowered—it leads to a better society."
If you need more proof that he's Team Women, look no further than the video for You & I (Nobody in the World), which is basically an ode to women.
I'd make him a roast beef sandwich on rye with extra mayo.
3) Matt McGorry
The Orange is the New Black/How To Get Away With Murder star was late to the game with feminism, but once he found out what it really means, he jumped on board. In a passionate Facebook post last year, he wrote:
I'm embarrassed to admit that I only recently discovered the ACTUAL definition of "feminism". The fact that the term is sometimes clouded with anything other than pure support and positivity in our society is very tragic. I believe in gender equality. Being a feminist is for both women AND men. I AM A FEMINIST. In for equality? Pass it on - #LeanInTogether #LeanIn #IAmAFeminist #HeForShe
McGorry loves feminism so much he MADE A SHIRT about it to profit the National Association for the Repeal of Abortion Laws. The shirt pissed off a lot of people online, which just shows he's willing to take on the feminist cause in its entirety, including being trolled.
He made a shirt. I would make him a meatball sub.
4) Ashton Kutcher
Ashton Kutcher is maybe not the person you'd most expect to speak passionately on behalf of women's rights. But don't judge a book by its chiseled jaw line. In 2011, the That '70s Show star (he's done a bunch of movies, too, but will always be Kelso in my heart) spoke about how equality needs to start at the level of sex education.
“I think there’s so much that’s not said about sex in our country, even from an educational level," he said. "The one thing they teach about is how to get pregnant or how to not get pregnant, but they don’t really talk about sex as a point of pleasure for women. That creates a place where women aren’t empowered around their own sexuality and their own sexual selves.”
I hope Kutcher likes ham and cheese on a bagel.
5) Joseph Gordon-Levitt
The Third Rock from the Sun actor (once a '90s TV star, always a '90s TV star) talked about being a feminist on Ellen in early 2014 and got a lot of attention. Then as a follow-up, he made this video about what feminism means to him. "To me it just means your gender doesn't have to define who you are," he said. "You can be whatever you want to be, whoever you want to be, regardless of your gender."
Who I am and what I want to be, among other things, is someone who would make Joseph Gordon-Levitt a classic peanut butter and jelly sandwich.
6) Richard Sherman
During a 2014 press conference, Seattle Seahawks cornerback Richard Sherman was asked an odd question about strip clubs. The interviewer said she thought athletes were being bad role models by going to strip clubs, which she apparently thinks is un-feminist (and, it should be noted, which Sherman denied doing). Nevertheless, he gamely answered her question with a positive response about equal opportunities for everyone:
I guess trying to understand that there are other avenues, there are other ways you can make money, that women can do anything they want in this world. You can go out there and be a CEO of a company. Like I said before, the same can be said for kids in the inner city—the ceiling is limitless and don’t limit yourself to those possibilities and those circumstances.
Hell yeah! I'd make him a protein-packed bacon, egg and cheese breakfast sandwich. With extra bacon.
7) Barack Obama
Barack Obama, President of the United States and my heart, is such a feminist he stuck it to The Man in a powerful essay for Glamouraddressing how the patriarchy hurts both men and women. And why it's important for him, as a father of two teen girls, to identify as a feminist.
He ended the essay with this mic dropping statement: "That’s what twenty-first-century feminism is about: the idea that when everybody is equal, we are all more free."
For this, I'd break my only-one-sandwich rule and make him an endless supply of sandwiches of every variety. But only if Michelle says it's okay.