Margaret Atwood is right. Being feminist doesn't necessarily mean agreeing with other women.

Handmaid's Tale author Margaret Atwood recently said that being a feminist doesn't mean always agreeing with everything every woman says (is that even possible?), or blindly supporting someone and their policies or beliefs just because they are a woman. Atwood specifically gave British Prime Minister Theresa May as an example of a woman she doesn't necessarily agree with.

I have to say I personally have a much better view of Theresa May. But otherwise, I do agree with Margaret Atwood. Feminism means supporting equal rights regardless of gender. It doesn't mean supporting women for the sake of supporting women.

During the Rudd-Gillard wars in Australia (2010-2013), I really didn't appreciate other feminists who thought of me as less of a feminist because I chose to support Rudd. I wasn't going to give Gillard a free pass even if she was Australia's first female prime minister. It was during this period that I started strongly rejecting the idea that feminists must always support other women. During the Clinton-Sanders wars in America (2016), I personally supported Clinton, but I didn't think it was any less feminist to support Sanders, if one's politics was more in line with his platform. I proudly stated this to my friends, both Clinton and Sanders supporters. Perhaps because some prominent feminists were Sanders supporters, or perhaps because I was already personally supporting Clinton, this time this particular stance was much more well received.

The bottom line is this: being a feminist doesn't mean putting having a female president ahead of everything else. (By the way, if that was the case, would we all need to support Sarah Palin, should she become the Republican candidate? I really hope not.)

p.s. No disrespect to Gillard. The Rudd-Gillard thing is over now, and both former PMs have handled themselves with grace after their departure from politics.

Justin Bieber has reportedly been banned from touring China. Maybe he will finally learn his lesson.

It is reported that Justin Bieber has been banned from touring China as part of his Asian tour this year.

While the exact reasons for the ban are not entirely clear, there is speculation that this may be related to his repeated insensitivity towards Chinese culture and sentiment. His actions during 2013-14 clearly seriously offended many ethnic Chinese, not just in China but across the world.

Maybe it's time Justin (and his many fans) learned a lesson: you can't get away with offending people repeatedly. Being nice has its benefits, and being offensive is not cool. Also, cultural sensitivity is not optional, especially when you are a guest in another country.

Is Ed Sheeran a Misogynist? Perhaps we should think more.

British singer Ed Sheeran was possibly forced to take drastic action on his twitter acccount after Buzzfeed published an article about some of his old tweets that they found, which sounded offensive and sexist. Soon after, he took his whole twitter account offline, and then only reactivate it after bulk deleting many, many tweets.

Of course, talk about Ed Sheeran being a probable misogynist also started flying around the internet.

But maybe we should think clearer. Tweets are essentially meaningless when taken out of context. Which was what that Buzzfeed article actually did. A main drawback of twitter is that it is difficult to determine what context everything was said in.

Therefore, this feminist is not convinced that there is anywhere near enough evidence to accuse Ed Sheeran of misogyny.

In addition, I think we should reflect on the sometimes hysterical nature of online feminist activism. Just this year so far, we have seen feminist hysteria surrounding Ed Sheeran, Jay-Z, Ivanka Trump, and even Bernie Sanders. Somehow, angry mobs are everywhere on the internet, and nobody is safe. You know, all this stupidity can only lead to the discrediting of feminism eventually. Which will be a real tragedy.

Katy Perry hopes to end feud with Taylor Swift. I really hope she is sincere.

Katy Perry has recently said in multiple interviews that she hopes to end her feud with Taylor Swift.

But it still isn't clear what this conflict was about. Or if it even ever existed at all.

I mean, I do have a long-standing suspicion that this feud perhaps never even existed. That perhaps, just maybe, Katy Perry was imagining it, for whatever reason. Especially since there is no clear evidence that Taylor Swift ever even acknowledged its existence. And no, the Bad Blood video does not count, as there was no evidence that it was directed at Katy Perry (or directed at anyone in particular at all).

In any case, I really hope Katy Perry is sincere about putting it all to an end. We're sick of hearing about this likely non-existant feud. I really hope she's not just acting out and trying to drag out the story for even longer. Because it is really becoming ridiculous.

Hayley Williams Shows Us Success is not just External

Hayley Williams recently revealed that she briefly quit Paramore in 2015, due to depression.

I thought the revelation was surprising.

But I also think it shows us something very important: success isn't just externally determined. You can have every success out there, yet if you feel unwell inside, you may not be able to feel any of that happiness. You may even feel like you need to walk away from it all.

I think it's time society had a conversation over this topic.

Lady Gaga is Right About the Haters (and let's include Trump too)

Lady Gaga recently talked about seeing negative people on the internet, and concluded that 'I never have to meet any of these people'.

Yes, that's the right attitude to have about haters. You know, some people are just extreme, hateful, or downright weird.

We just have to ignore them.

p.s. With regard to these people to ignore, I do mean to include a certain high-profile American politician who regularly uses Twitter. If only the world would just ignore his tweets from his personal account from now on. I mean, they don't affect government policy, right?

Lorde is the Woke Queen. Or is she? What if she got Even More Woke?

Lorde has been praised by intersectional feminists around the world, ever since she said that feminism is not all about privileged, white women like herself. Some have even called her the new 'Woke Queen' (whatever that is supposed to mean).

This outpouring of positivity isn't unexpected. Especially as a minority of radical feminists continue to hold tight to the fantasy that Taylor Swift is the biggest 'White Feminist' in the music industry (something which has no basis in reality), they might have believed that the had just found the anti-Swift they had been looking for, for almost a decade. I mean, Lorde made all the right noises, she spoke the right language, to get the patronage of this crowd.

But then, what if she got more, well, 'woke'? Let's imagine that she came to the realization that many of the boundaries and taboos of mainstream feminism has been alienating women of color all along, and spoke out about that. Let's imagine that she decided to call for a feminism truly without gatekeepers. Would the feminist establishment be so welcoming of her still? I highly doubt it.

p.s. this post isn't meant to be taken as negative opinion on Lorde. It's good that she is attempting to be intersectional with her feminism, it's just that I wouldn't call her 'woke' so soon. I have to know if she will just be a mouthpiece for mainstream feminism or if she will really think for herself.

Please Don't Make the Private Matters of Jay-Z and Beyonce about Feminist Theory.

4:44, the latest offering from Jay-Z, in which he makes an attempt to apologize to wife Beyonce Knowles regarding his past behaviour, has reignited the feminist discussion around the whole thing, which started when Beyonce released her album Lemonade some time ago.

Some feminists have again heaped praise on Beyonce, whilst others have said that Jay-Z's apology doesn't go far enough. They reckon that Jay-Z should have addressed male privilege and systematic issues, if he was really sincere.

But let me say this: let's not make this a lesson in feminism, shall we? What Jay-Z was doing was a personal apology to his wife, and discussion of structural discrimination issues and privilege wouldn't be appropriate here. A man wouldn't talk about male privilege when apologizing to his wife, right? The feminist thing here is that she made him apologize, full stop.

I am a feminist. But it's not always all about feminist theory, right? (I don't even know if Jay-Z is a feminist.)

Donald Trump has Proven Himself Unfit for Office. But we REALLY need to start Demanding More of our Leaders.

Donald Trump's recent horrible behaviour towards show hosts Mika Brzezinski and Joe Scarborough has, in the eyes of many (including myself), conclusively proven that he is indeed unfit for office. I have personally long suspected of his unfitness for office, but this really proves it beyond any doubt for me.

But how did we get here, a President who is effectively going out of his way to bully two of his citizens? Such behaviour was indeed unthinkable back in the 1950s, despite all the faults of that era.

The fact is that, we in the Western world have been demanding less and less of our leaders, and this trend has gotten us to where we are. We ought to start demanding more. Presidents are not just everyday citizens, they are our representatives, and we need to hold them to a higher level of accountability and decency. The non-judgemental stuff ought not to apply to our leaders. It is why I really think that Bill Clinton should have been impeached back in 1990s, despite the fact that I would have supported his administration otherwise. Fellow liberals clearly don't share my view there, but hey, if you let your side off the hook, the other side will do the same too, and we will end up in a downward spiral.

It's not too late to reverse this downward spiral, though. Next election, start demanding that candidates show some integrity before endorsing them, wherever you live in the world. We really cannot afford another Trump anywhere in the world.