Helen Mirren: No such thing as binary sexuality

By MiNDFOOD

Dame Helen Mirren says she doesn't believe in male or female sexuality, saying we all sit somewhere on a spectrum. REUTERS
Dame Helen Mirren says she doesn't believe in male or female sexuality, saying we all sit somewhere on a spectrum. REUTERS
"There's no male or female, we're all somewhere in between", so where on the scale does Dame Helen Mirren identify?

A prominent feminist and long-standing advocate for women’s rights, now, Dame Helen Mirren says she “doesn’t believe” in binary sexuality.

The famed actress thinks that every person is “somewhere in the middle” of male-versus-female in an interview with The Radio Times, revealing she feels she has “a strong male side”.

“I came to the conclusion an awfully long time ago that there is black and there is white, and we’re all somewhere in the middle in a wonderful mix of male and female,” the 74-year-old said.

‘There is no such thing as binary sexuality, when you’re male or female. I don’t believe that at all.’

“I think I was very lucky to be in my world, the world of acting and drama, because I think an awful lot of actors have male and female in them,” she added.

‘A lot of great actors, great, masculine actors, are actually very feminine. Great heart-throbs have a very present feminine side to them. A lot of very strong female actors, have a very strong male side to them,’ she revealed to The Radio Times.

Mirren was happy to admit having several masculine traits.

“I hate talking about my feelings, I never want to go to the doctor and I’m a brilliant map-reader. I have a lot of what people might call male qualities. But I certainly look like a woman,” she said.

Mirren opened up on her admiration for female stars such as recent Emmy-winner Phoebe Waller Bridge at a time when she feels women are finally taking control of their own destiny in the age of #MeToo.

“I’m envious of their self-confidence and of the energy and chutzpah,’ she said.

“Why did #MeToo happen? Something cracked. Something went, and I absolutely love that a young generation of women just won’t accept it.

“I see young women around me taking control of their own destiny. Writing their own material, creating their own theatre groups or making their own movies, that lovely assumption that it’s possible, and that they can do it. Whether they do it well or badly is completely irrelevant,” she added.

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