Without question, Willow Smith, daughter of A-listers Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith is the avant-garde Fresh Princess of Calabasas. From her social media activism to her gender non-conforming fashion sense and ear for music far removed from the manufactured pop hits of the Billboard Hot 100, the 17-year-old multi-hyphenate rising star has already managed to carve out a niche for herself in Hollywood. Somehow able to be completely aware of her own celebrity and yet aloof toward her life in the public eye, Smith has made it very clear time and again that she plans to use her elevated status to enact real, positive change in the world. Disgusted with the notion of celebrity simply in the pursuit of material gain, Smith, armored with her parents' solid legacy intends to bring her message of female empowerment to the masses.
"Yep. I know so many kids who literally are, like, Instagram-famous. It’s literally crazy. Kids will paint a picture of themselves that is so far beyond who they actually are. It’s like they’re wearing someone else’s skin," Smith admitted. "And then there’s people, like me and Jaden, who want to utilize social media to elevate the consciousness of those people who feel like all they want from social media is to be famous. Like, you can actually be a voice. You can actually say something that’s inspiring and not just make people feel like you need to buy things and be a certain way."
Boasting an impressive 2.9 million followers on Instagram, Smith stays steady grindin' by spreading her message of equality regardless of the number of online trolls gunning to slam it down. Check out this collection of the "Whip My Hair" singer's most female-empowering Instagram posts to get a feel for just how authentic Smith's message actually is.
Men, Fall To Your Knees
Believing that men have a long way to come regarding the injustices inflicted on women throughout history, Smith shared this snippet with her followers from "On the Road" by Jack Kerouac. "If these men stop the machine and come home--and get on their knees--and ask for forgiveness--and the women bless them--peace will suddenly descend on the earth with a great silence like the inherent silence of the Apocalypse."
https://www.instagram.com/p/Bbs1lrOBnBt
Ignorance
Dedicated to exposing the harmful rhetoric that once surrounded the systematic oppression of women, Smith shared this text that slammed the "sexual power of the woman." Branding women as dangers both to the community and to societal structure as a whole, the 17-year-old warned her followers to "never forget" what can happen when ignorance prevails.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BaKUTLKgzJ5
Speak Up For Women's Health
Not surprisingly, Smith was NOT here for the proposed rollback of the birth control mandate that would ensure that female contraception is covered by insurance providers. " Women's rights are human rights🤘🏿It's so excruciatingly sad and idiotic that this struggle is STILL happening," captioned Willow alongside a post outlining the dangers of the proposed cutback.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BaDRO4hA7yk
Distortion
Once again speaking to the detriment of limiting the reproductive rights of women, Smith, like activist Gloria Steinem, imagines a world where the same restrictions placed on abortions carry over to gun ownership.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BZ34ePLgpR_
What Women Are
Noting the importance of women in the continuation of the human race, Smith was quick to remind her followers of the integral role they serve as primary players "in human destiny."
https://www.instagram.com/p/BY32f9BA10F
Not A Level Playing Field
Shining a light on the oft-criticized "third wave white feminism," Smith points out the fact that women of color simply do not have the luxury of focusing on women's issues as they must also deal with racial and socioeconomic inequality within their own interactions and communities.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BWiIYPsAm7s
Out Of Touch
Reposting a meme that circulated throughout the Twitterverse during the reproductive rights debate, Smith highlighted how perverse it is that a group of aging (mostly) white men determine the health care restrictions for millions of women nationwide. "It is absolutely ridiculous (and literally laughable) that these men think that they are qualified to make decisions about women's health," wrote Smith.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BSCMsMcg8U9
All About Equality
Clearing things up for the critics that brand her a "feminazi," Smith clarified the oft-held belief that to be a feminist, one must be a radical victim of oppression. Instead, the 17-year-old pointed out that to be a feminist, you must just simply want gender equality.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BQ4KDblA_19
What's More Important?
According to Smith, "Feminism is the radical idea that women's safety is more important than men's feelings."
https://www.instagram.com/p/BQwn7FagH_x
Power
Captioning this image with a simple utterance of "power," it's clear that Smith elevates women as the givers of all life.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BHegFQ5jsH7
