Sarah Jessica Parker is a Humanist… Maybe

In case you were lying awake at night wondering about what labels Sarah Jessica Parker uses to describe herself, you can go to bed now.

She’s a humanist (but not a feminist), she says in the August issue of Cosmopolitan:

“As [playwright] Wendy Wasserstein would say, I’m a humanist. I’m enormously appreciative of the work that my mother’s generation did. We are the beneficiaries of a lot of disappointment, heartache, discouragement, and misunderstanding. But I see a lot of people trying to sort out their roles. People of color, gays, lesbians, and transgenders who are carving out this space. I’m not spitting in the face or being lazy about what still needs to be done — but I don’t think it’s just women anymore. We would be so enormously powerful if it were a humanist movement.“

Okay… so it’s not really clear if she’s a capital-H Humanist. It’s not like she elaborated on the non-existence of God. (The rest of you can argue over whether it makes sense to ditch the “feminist” label if she’s supporting issues like equal pay and paid sick leave.)

It sounds like she’s saying she doesn’t call herself a feminist because she cares about everyone, and everyone should care about issues that disproportionately affect women. Which is all well and good, but doesn’t really say much at all. She gave an answer that was supposed to satisfy everyone and ended up appealing to no one.

Incidentally, here’s what Wasserstein said about the subjects in 1992:

“I can’t imagine not being a feminist… I think women and men deserve equal rights. Who can object to that? Being a feminist is just being a humanist. But I realize there are people out there who think that’s a bad thing, too.”

Thanks, Cosmo. You made my head hurt.

And that concludes your celebrity news for the day.