Lizzy Caplan Of 'Masters of Sex' Talks Feminism With Playboy July/August 2015

Actor Lizzy Caplan who plays Virginia Johnson in Showtime’s ‘Masters of Sex’, an acclaimed drama loosely based on the work of sexperts Dr William Johnson, delivers beautiful lingerie shots captured by Kurt Iswarienko for The July-August issue of Playboy magazine.

David Rensin asks Lizzy Caplan 20 questions about ‘Masters of Sex’ and by Q4, the duo is talking feminism. Indeed … feminism.

‘Masters of Sex’ takes place during the late 1950s and early 1960s, an era when women ramped up their struggle for liberation. Virginia Johnson keeps pushing the envelope, but you can feel her frustration at almost every turn. Things have changed, but have they changed enough?

The tough pills that women are expected to swallow have gotten better, but it’s naive to think we’ve come that far from the 1950s. Women are still expected to accept a lower paycheck than a man for the same amount of work. And what about the difficulties every working mother faces, the stigma of leaving her child with a caregiver versus staying home and giving up her own dreams? There’s nothing on our show around the feminist issues that I don’t feel has a huge echo today. If anything, it makes me angry about today. [pauses] I’ve never said this out loud before, but I don’t know if we’ll get there in my lifetime. Until we can convince our own side—women—that this is a good thing for all of us, I don’t see how we stand a chance convincing all the men.

Read on for Q5.

Women are divided about equality too?

Yes. It’s disturbing. It’s not a 50-50 split, but some women have reacted to what I think is the wrong definition of feminism. It doesn’t mean you hate men or you hate sex or you’re a butch lesbian. Feminism is about equality. And yet some women with sway in this world, especially with younger girls, are unwilling to identify as feminists, and I don’t see how that helps. There are still some women fighting against other women who want to make their own reproductive decisions. That just blows my mind.

xxx