He's known for his roles on Orange is the New Black and How To Get Away With Murder. But, online, Matt McGorry is also known for being a feminist. His Twitter and Instagram are filled with posts of him talking about gender equality (oh, and racial equality, too, because this man is awesome). So, it's not surprising that online social activism is really important to him.
"I have such a platform and a pretty substantial audience to be able to share this information with and help influence people. It sort of feels like my social responsibility to do something," McGorry says about his socially conscious Twitter feed. He admits he didn't always label himself as a feminist, although inherently he was one. Now that he understands the true meaning of the world, he's hoping he can help others understand it, too.
"After having learned the actual definition of it and how simple it is, really everyone should be a feminist," McGorry says. After all, being a feminist literally just means you support the equal treatment of men and women. So, in his quest to expose others to this type of thinking, he's taken to posting informative tweets, answering questions, and just generally being a total badass feminist.
"I think that this fight could really be helped by more men. It's a bit of a shame that more men don't look at it that way," McGorry admits. But, that's where his posts come in. McGorry's goal is to encourage conversation, rather than slamming those with a different view.
I'm very new to this too, so I'm not going to sit there and judge anyone who hasn't spoken out about it ... I post about the things that I relate to at the level of knowledge that I have, which is not an expert level of knowledge. But, I do think I have a lot of common sense and general decency, which I think is a good start, and I try to go from there.
McGorry says he knows he has privilege as a white male, and that there are plenty of women saying the things he's been tweeting about for a lot longer than he's been tweeting it. But, like Emma Watson's HeForShe campaign suggests, we should all fight for equality together. Feminism shouldn't be just a woman's fight, and to have men like McGorry standing up and trying to make a change is just as important.
Throughout my interview with McGorry, he kept steering the conversation back to feminism, which is exactly what he does on Twitter. Sure, he posts silly stuff and self-promotional stuff, too. But, the focus of his social media is very clearly one of starting a conversation about these important topics.
"I hope that at some point in people's lives, they try to serve something that is greater than themselves," McGorry says. "I think it's really wonderful the power of fame and what it can allow in terms of making a difference. That to me is one of the greatest gifts of being an actor."
And, this is one gift of which we all get to reap the benefits.
