Sophia Bush Says She's Received Pushback For Voicing Political Opinions As An Actress

Actress Sophia Bush sat down with HuffPost Live on Tuesday and revealed that she has been discouraged from sharing her political opinions as an actress.

Bush: "It's so funny how quickly people forget that you are a real multidimensional human being and not just a flat person on a television screen."

Bush: "When I speak up about issues, sometimes that really motivates people. … I would imagine with this many years of me exercising my social platforms in the way that I do, people would know that I'm very outspoken and I still have people saying, 'You're an actress. Stay in your lane. You're not allowed to be political.' And I'm like, 'Excuse me?' I travel all around the world and see the effects of be it education access, environmental crises, what's happening in political sphere how it affects the developing world [and] women in my own backyard. I'm pretty sure I'm allowed to voice my opinions about that, but thanks."

She also explained that her definition of the word "feminism" is actually pretty simple.

Bush: "It's so not complicated. ...I watch everybody fight over whether it's appropriate to be a feminist or not. And I sit here thinking, well, I'm a woman. I would like to be judged on the quality of my work, I would like to be compensated fairly for my work. I would like to have just as much access to healthcare as any man. Yeah, that's pretty much it. I don't know what the big fight is all about. Believing in my right to live as well and as well protected in the world as a man, doesn't mean I hate men. And it doesn't mean I'm going to burn all my bras and throw away all my high heels. I don't want to be judged for wearing them. I don't want to be judged for wearing motorcycle boots either."

Watch the full HuffPost Live segment with Sophia Bush here.

HuffPost Live Conversation: John Ridley Won't Call Himself A Feminist Out Of Respect For True Activists

"American Crime" creator John Ridley joined HuffPost Live on Wednesday explained that he doesn't call himself a feminist, but it's not because he doesn't believe in gender equality. Rather, he thinks that claiming the label for himself would diminish the work of activists who tirelessly fight for their causes every day.

 Ridley: "It's not like I'm out on a daily basis advocating. I don't want to adopt some kind of a mantle when the reality is, on a daily basis, I'm not an advocate and I'm not doing the things that people do where they put their lives or themselves or their livelihoods at risk, because there are people who are doing that."

 The Oscar winner said true feminist activists "deserve to have a label that says they're doing something," but he doesn't feel his work as a writer for film and television is enough to merit the title.

 Ridley: "I'm not anti-label for people who are actually doing the things that move society forward. I'm not that guy, and I don't do enough. So for someone to come along and say, 'Hey, John, you're a really big feminist...' I hope that I write quality characters just because that's what one should do. I just want to be careful when someone is out advocating on a daily basis and they go, 'Oh, so John gets to sit in his apartment in New York and he gets to be called a feminist.'"

 Ridley: "There are people out there who are, on a daily basis, fighting the fight for the things they believe in. And those individuals, based on the fact that they are engaged on a regular basis, they deserve to have a label that says that they're doing something. I don't want the headline ['John Ridley Isn't A Feminist'] ... I realize how bad that may sound. But I also don't want to take the spotlight from people who are out there fighting."

Watch the full HuffPost Live conversation with John Ridley here.