Cate Blanchett rejecting the word 'actress' sparks debate about gendered words we don't need

Cate Blanchett is letting you all know that she has always been "an actor” and not an “actress”.

Yes, that's right: the Oscar-winning star is pointing out that gendered words can be extremely silly and useless.

She is the jury president at this year's Venice Film Festival and during the opening day press conference, she was asked about the Berlin Film Festival's decision to give "gender-neutral awards" instead of best actress and actor awards.

She said:

Not as a political statement, but I've always referred to myself as an actor. I don't think we have a very gender specific language and I'm of a generation where the word 'actress' was used always in a pejorative sense. So I think I claim the other space.

Blanchett went on to say that "good performances are good performances" and that it's more difficult having to judge other artists' work.

"I think that's often the hardest thing," she said. "Demarcation or no."

Naturally, it has left people thinking about all the other unnecessary gendered nouns out there. Like, comedienne, manageress, hostess and heiress.

Some people totally saw where the actor was coming from:

While others have some questions:

Why not just call the women being described as comedians, managers, hosts and heirs? It would actually be so much easier, no?

Plus, are we as people seriously suggesting that an actor who happens to be a man is any different from one that happens to be a woman? In the English language, such differentiation is totally unnecessary considering masculine or feminine articles are not used like they are in the French language (think “le” and “la”).

But it would also be great if we could focus on the inequality many women face due to the patriarchal world we live in, which is reflected in this language.

And one thing is for sure: Cate Blanchett is an actor.