Miss USA explains why she's an 'equalist' and not a 'feminist'

Elena Sheppard

May 8, 2018

At the 2017 Miss USA Pageant, Miss District of Columbia, Kára McCullough, was asked: “What do you consider feminism to be, and do you consider yourself a feminist?” McCullough went on to win the pageant and be crowned Miss USA, but her answer to that question was a controversial one. “As a woman scientist in the government, I’d like to lately transpose the word feminism to equalism,” she said to applause from the crowd. “I try not to consider myself this die-hard, like, I don’t really care about men — but one thing I really want to say is women, we are just as equal as men when it comes to opportunity in the workplace.”

Her answer, while loudly supported in the pageant room, was sharply criticized by women online. 

Maeve McDermott
✔
@maeve_mcdermott
Hi from #MissUSA, where Miss DC just announced she's not a feminist, but an "equalist" who's "not one of those die hards"