Jessica Alba On Women Deserving Equal Seat At The Table And Embracing Feminity

Jessica Alba has not only established herself as a notable leading lady in Hollywood, but she’s also built her own empire with a business that she began from the ground up, which is now valued at over $1 billion. It’s clear as to why women and men might want to lend an ear to the star when she shares about her road to success in interviews and when making appearances on various programs.

Most recently, Alba chatted with Cosmopolitan about her values and the goals she set for herself at a young age. Cosmo relays Alba’s words about manifesting her own destiny from the beginning.

“I always wanted to be a big action star, to be as relevant as men. I was very aggressive with the vision and manifesting it.”

Although the CEO, mother, and actress was always self-described as “masculine” growing up, Alba notes that it’s important to embrace femininity and own all the beauty that comes along with being female.

“Most of my life, I identified more with my masculine side. I was kind of aggressive and super masculine in my early 20s — even into my mid- 20s. I got boobs when I was young… and I was like, What do I do?… I was never the girl who they marketed. I was always feeling angry, like an imposter. I learned how to be cool with the feminine later in life.”

Jessica now uses her ability to understand what women want, seeing as she’s a bit of an expert, to capitalize on this knowledge in the world of business that is predominantly overrun with men. She is able to use her own drive, determination, and smarts as a woman to prove that women belong in the corporate roles just as much as any man may.

“I’m in a man’s world in business. But I know what women want — [men] don’t … Whenever [male colleagues] question me in meetings, I’m like, ‘Go home and ask your wife. This is a pointless conversation. Go home and talk to her.’ When we were talking about package designs, I was like, ‘Are you really giving me notes on packaging for feminine care? I literally can’t with you.'”

Speaking on the obvious discrepancy in regards to a man’s salary versus that of a woman’s who does the exact same job and may even do so better, Alba turns to the example of Hollywood’s pay gap between the leading men and leading women.

“There are not as many women in government titles, business titles. It’s just not equal. And until there is equality, you’re going to feel that no matter what industry you’re in. But from day one, I was like, girls should have an equal seat at the table. Take Jennifer Lawrence. I mean, she’s opening movies — she’s the box office draw as much as any guy in the movie, if not more. She should be compensated for that.”

A number of actresses have come forward to voice their own opinions on the issue of the Hollywood pay gap, including the talent referenced in Alba’s comment on the issue. Most recently it was Kristen Stewart who made a point about inequality of pay when it comes to the sexes, stating that the topic is boring, and that if leading ladies want the issue fixed, complaining isn’t the answer — action is the answer. The 25-year-old chatted with Variety on the topic late last month.

“Instead of sitting around and complaining about that, do something. Go write something, go do something. And that’s easy to say. Like, f**k, it’s hard to get movies made. It’s a huge luxury. Who gets to just make movies? But that subject is just so prevalently everywhere right now, and it’s boring.”

Speaking, much as Lawrence and Alba have done, on the issue of equality has it’s place and pertinence in the industry all the same.

[Photo by Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images for Target]