--- title: Janelle Monáe to Marie Claire: 'People Have to Start Respecting the Vagina’ description: Find out what Janelle Monae told Marie Claire about why 'people have to start respecting the vagina.' canonical: https://time.com/4733274/janelle-monae-marie-claire-respect/ author: Samantha Cooney article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-04-10T19:19:38.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T09:05:24.644Z og:title: Janelle Monáe: 'People Have to Start Respecting the Vagina’ og:description: The star gives a candid interview in Marie Claire’s Fresh Faces issue og:url: https://time.com/4733274/janelle-monae-marie-claire-respect/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4a0eca9159d237d9/6988c2287cdbacb333d57cfd/janelle-monae-women-vagina.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: 2017 Vanity Fair Oscar Party Hosted By Graydon Carter - Arrivals og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Janelle Monáe: 'People Have to Start Respecting the Vagina’ twitter:description: The star gives a candid interview in Marie Claire’s Fresh Faces issue twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4a0eca9159d237d9/6988c2287cdbacb333d57cfd/janelle-monae-women-vagina.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Janelle Monáe: 'People Have to Start Respecting the Vagina’  by [Samantha Cooney](https://time.com/author/samantha-cooney/)  ## Samantha Cooney Apr 10, 2017 7:19 PM UTC  BEVERLY HILLS, CA - FEBRUARY 26: Singer Janelle Monae attends 2017 Vanity Fair Oscar Party Hosted By Graydon Carter at Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts on February 26, 2017 in Beverly Hills, California. (Photo by Taylor Hill/Getty Images) BEVERLY HILLS, CA - FEBRUARY 26: Singer Janelle Monae attends 2017 Vanity Fair Oscar Party Hosted By Graydon Carter at Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts on February 26, 2017 in Beverly Hills, California. (Photo by Taylor Hill/Getty Images)Taylor Hill—Getty Images  by [Samantha Cooney](https://time.com/author/samantha-cooney/)  ## Samantha Cooney Apr 10, 2017 7:19 PM UTC [Janelle Monáe](http://motto.time.com/4649541/janelle-monae-black-women-in-hollywood-awards/) issued a strong ultimatum for men who won’t fight for women’s rights. The actor and singer appeared on one of the five covers of _Marie Claire_‘s May “Fresh Faces” issue, which also features model and actor [Emily Ratajkowski](http://motto.time.com/4396276/emily-ratajkowski-feminism-ideal-body/) and actors Aja Naomi King, Alexandra Daddario and Zoey Deutch, and touched upon each woman’s burgeoning careers and unapologetic embrace of feminism. “People have to start respecting the vagina. Until every man is fighting for our rights, we should consider stopping having sex. I love men. But evil men? I will not tolerate that,” [Monáe](http://motto.time.com/4649541/janelle-monae-black-women-in-hollywood-awards/) told the magazine. “If you’re going to own this world and this is how you’re going to rule this world, I am not going to contribute anymore until you change it. We have to realize our power and our magic.” Monáe, who gave a [performance](http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/janelle-monae-at-the-womens-march-in-washington%5Fus%5F5883cd3be4b0da51c6d2fb83) at the Women’s March on Washington in January, also advised women to ignore societal standards about appearance and embrace their individuality. “I don’t think we all have to take the same coordinates to reach the same destination. I believe in embracing what makes you unique even if it makes others uncomfortable,” she said. “I have learned there is power in saying no. I have agency. I get to decide.” Read the full [story](http://www.marieclaire.com/celebrity/a26335/fresh-faces-2017/) on MarieClaire.com. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4733274/janelle-monae-marie-claire-respect/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4733274/janelle-monae-marie-claire-respect/"},"headline":"Janelle Monáe: 'People Have to Start Respecting the Vagina’","datePublished":"2017-04-10T19:19:38.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T09:05:24.644Z","description":"The star gives a candid interview in Marie Claire’s Fresh Faces issue","url":"https://time.com/4733274/janelle-monae-marie-claire-respect/","keywords":["motto","feminism"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4a0eca9159d237d9/6988c2287cdbacb333d57cfd/janelle-monae-women-vagina.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Samantha Cooney","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/samantha-cooney/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4a0eca9159d237d9/6988c2287cdbacb333d57cfd/janelle-monae-women-vagina.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"2017 Vanity Fair Oscar Party Hosted By Graydon Carter - Arrivals","caption":"2017 Vanity Fair Oscar Party Hosted By Graydon Carter - Arrivals","creditText":"Taylor Hill—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"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":"/tag/motto/","name":"motto"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4733274/janelle-monae-marie-claire-respect/","name":"Janelle Monáe: 'People Have to Start Respecting the Vagina’"}}]}] ```