Zoe Saldana: Sexism ‘Much More Aggressive’ Than Racism in America

Actress Zoe Saldana says the election of Donald Trump taught her that sexism is a more “aggressive” problem than racism in America.

“There was a realization that I just had in this last election is that, that America is racist — of course, there’s racism everywhere, I’m not saying that there isn’t — but I think that sexism is much stronger and it’s much more aggressive,” the Guardians of the Galaxy star said in an interview Thursday on SiriusXM’s “Sway in the Morning.”

Saldana conceded that there are women in various leadership positions today, but argued that “CEOs are primarily males” and “art is primarily male-driven.”

“I found it really offensive that Hillary Clinton was just questioned in a way that ‘let’s just question your incompetence because you couldn’t even like handle your [private email] server,'” the actress said, using the recent presidential election as an example.

“I’m just like, ‘People, she’s up against a man that calls women pigs on national television and she’s incompetent?'” Saldana continued. “There’s a big problem here and we have to address this pink elephant in the room. And it has to do with sexism in America.”

Saldana, who has landed leading roles in such blockbuster films as Avatar and Star Trek, insists that racism isn’t always the reason why minorities face obstacles, particularly in the film industry.

“I’m not troubled by the way I look,” Saldana, a Latina who has Haitian roots, said. “Maybe I didn’t get that part because I didn’t deserve it. There are other factors besides people always coming after you.”

In January, the actress told AFP that Trump won the election because Clinton-supporting celebrities “got cocky.”

“We got cocky and became arrogant and we also became bullies,” she said. “We were trying to single out a man for all these things he was doing wrong … and that created empathy in a big group of people in America that felt bad for him and that are believing in his promises.”

Saldana’s latest film, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, hits theaters Friday, May 5.

 

Follow Jerome Hudson on Twitter @jeromeehudson.