Amy Schumer brands people who will not call themselves feminists 'insane'

Comedian points to the definition of the word being gender equality

Amy Schumer has branded anyone who does not call themselves a feminist an “insane person”.

The comedian says it still baffles her how people can not identify with the term when the definition of the word means equality of the sexes.

“I think anyone who’s not a feminist is an insane person,” she told Emily Maitlis on BBC Newsnight. “I think they don’t know what feminism means. It just means equality for women but I think that word has a whole different meaning for different people.

“Someone will say to me, ‘you’re not a feminist are you?’ and I’ll say: ‘What does that mean to you? Of course I am, of course I want equal rights for women’ […] I really think a lot of people don’t know what it means, it’s just words […] I feel very comfortable speaking as a comedian and a feminist because those are two things that I completely am, those are two words that definitely define me.”

Despite the dictionary definition of the word, ‘feminism’ has long been tainted with ‘man-hating’, as pointed out by Emma Watson in her viral HeForShe speech in 2014.

In an attempt to revert the association, more and more high-profile people such as Beyonce, Chris Hemsworth and the Candian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau are explaining how simple the definition of the word is and how, in 2016, it shouldn’t be an issue to promote and accept the word given its synonymity with gender equality.

Game of Thrones’ Maisie Williams made a similar statement to Schumer earlier this year when she suggested losing the term ‘feminist’ and instead having the two classifications of ‘humans and sexists’.

However, some women in the public eye still chose to distance themselves from the word yet appear to have missed the point by then actively encouraging and supporting gender equality, such as Kim Kardashian-West and Sarah Jessica Parker.

Schumer, who made headlines last week for kicking a sexist heckler out of her show, also told Maitlis she believes the apologetic nature of some women comes as a result of “so many people hating women and so much anger towards women”.

The 35-year-old. who is an ardent Hillary Clinton supporter, also joked she would emigrate from the US if Donald Trump wins the presidential election in November.