--- description: The 18-year-old actress explained that when she first learned the word feminist, she didn't realize why it was used as a label. title: Game of Thrones' Maisie Williams Explains Why She Doesn't Like the Word 'Feminist' image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- * [Entertainment](/section/entertainment/) ## Entertainment Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [feminism](/tag/feminism/) ## feminism Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # _Game of Thrones_' Maisie Williams Explains Why She Doesn't Like the Word 'Feminist' ## Video: Is 'Games of Thrones' Treatment Of Women Too Much? [Watch (HLS stream): Is 'Games of Thrones' Treatment Of Women Too Much?](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/vn6UV5cw.m3u8) (2:05)  _Published 2015-06-12. This season of 'Game of Thrones' has been brutal towards women. But is it too much?_  by [Megan McCluskey](/author/megan-mccluskey/)  ## Megan McCluskey Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Staff Writer Apr 6, 2016 9:13 PM CUT  by [Megan McCluskey](/author/megan-mccluskey/)  ## Megan McCluskey Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Staff Writer Apr 6, 2016 9:13 PM CUT [Maisie Williams](http://time.com/3922159/jon-snow-game-of-thrones-arya/?iid=sr-link2 "undefined") has [spoken about feminism](http://time.com/3633638/game-of-thrones-maisie-williams-feminism-emma-watson/?iid=sr-link1 "undefined") in the past, but in a recent [interview with _Entertainment Weekly_](http://www.ew.com/article/2016/04/04/game-thrones-maisie-williams-interview "undefined"), she clarified her views surrounding the fight for gender equality. The 18-year-old actress, who plays [Arya Stark on HBO’s _Game of Thrones_](http://time.com/4185106/maisie-williams-jon-snows-twist-game-of-thrones/?iid=sr-link4 "undefined"), explained that when she first learned the word feminist, she didn’t realize why it was used as a label. “I remember thinking, ‘Isn’t that just like everyone?,'” she said. “And then I realized everyone is not a feminist, unfortunately. But I also feel like we should stop calling feminists ‘feminists’ and just start calling people who aren’t feminist ‘sexist’ – and then everyone else is just a human. You are either a normal person or a sexist.” **Read More:** [Maisie Williams on How _Game of Thrones_ Treats Women and Her Dream Superhero Role](http://time.com/3951804/game-of-thrones-maisie-williams-comic-con/?iid=sr-link1 "undefined") However, Williams also admitted that she sometimes balks at the idea of openly voicing her beliefs. “I sometimes really worry about speaking up about feminist subjects out of fear of being bashed by women on social media,” she said. “And there’s something not right there. Yeah, sometimes it’s men too. But there are women who are just nasty. I’m trying to do the best I can. I got a voice. I believe in equality and I know I have more power than the average person to reach people. And I just get petrified in case people are rude. You don’t want to put yourself through that.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4284168/game-of-thrones-maisie-williams-feminist/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4284168/game-of-thrones-maisie-williams-feminist/"},"headline":"Game of Thrones' Maisie Williams Explains Why She Doesn't Like the Word 'Feminist'","datePublished":"2016-04-06T21:13:49.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:31:25.242Z","description":"\"You are either a normal person or a sexist\"","url":"https://time.com/4284168/game-of-thrones-maisie-williams-feminist/","keywords":["feminism","Newsfeed","Television","game of thrones","gender equality","TV","Maisie Williams","Arya Stark"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Megan McCluskey","jobTitle":"Staff Writer","url":"https://time.com/author/megan-mccluskey/"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/feminism/","name":"feminism"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4284168/game-of-thrones-maisie-williams-feminist/","name":"Game of Thrones' Maisie Williams Explains Why She Doesn't Like the Word 'Feminist'"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Is 'Games of Thrones' Treatment Of Women Too Much?","description":"This season of 'Game of Thrones' has been brutal towards women. But is it too much?","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/vn6UV5cw/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2015-06-12T03:04:09.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/vn6UV5cw.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/4284168/game-of-thrones-maisie-williams-feminist/","duration":"PT2M5S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/4284168/game-of-thrones-maisie-williams-feminist/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```