Ashley Judd

Guest editor-in-chief Ashley Judd talks about solving the chaos in her life, what she's doing to save the environment, and the private moment that made the abortion issue personal

I CATCH UP WITH ASHLEY JUDD ON HER farm outside of Nashville, TN, where she lives with her husband, race-car driver Dark) Franchitti. Birds chirp, branches sway, a brook babbles. The setting exudes solitude, and the first thing I ask is how she ever leaves. "You know what? It's not easy." she confides. Her hair in pigtails, Judd is dressed in a white sheath ("It's actually a nightgown that I never quite got out of." she confesses). This is where Judd decompresses — she puts together scrapbooks, takes long walks (trailed by two dogs, three cats, and the occasional wild turkey), and tends to her sweeping garden. "In two weeks, all you'll see around here are roses," she says as she surveys the space. "When we were shooting De-Lovely in London, I discovered Queen Mary's rose garden, and I'm telling you what, I've gone crazy for roses." She disappears into the kitchen and returns brandishing a tray loaded with iced-tea glasses and a selection of Italian cookies piled in mismatched bowls. She leads me to a terrace in the back of the house overlooking a valley. It's apparent that she possesses all the graciousness of the mannered South: serving iced tea on a tray, arranging the chairs in the garden so that I have the best view.

But the fiery side of her personality the woman who marched with demonstrators in a recent pro-choice rally in Washington, DC; who has visited brothels in Thailand and helped distribute information about STDs to prostitutes also shows through as we discuss the challenges facing American women. When I glance at her answers to our Gallup Poll (page 82), I see that Ashley is not content to simply respond; she immediately offers solutions.

MC Which of the poll's issues resonated most with you? Child care? Reproductive rights? Health care?

AJ All of them. Women's issues are interrelated: Better child care, child safety at home and school well, these things are related to family-friendly work environments and improved education. If you work on these issues collectively, there will be an exponential effect on women's and children's lives.

I know how important it is for a child to feel safe. When I was growing up, my mother's and sister's careers were taking off. I went to live with my dad, who had his own problems. Finally, I ended up living at my grandparents' house. They provided a counterpoint to all the chaos in my life. For the first time ever, someone made my breakfast every day and washed my gym clothes on Fridays. They were loving, nurturing people with a strong sense of faith, and 1 could be myself around them. Without them, I wouldn't be the person I am today.

MC Have Americans become too jaded to tackle women's issues? Do we take our democracy for granted?

AJ I always think of this: When women got the right to vote in 1920, that legislation passed in Congress by just one vote. One vote changed everything. We are seeing that in other countries, too South Africa just had its second, massively successful, free and fair election. People voted in droves. In India, where there's an extraordinary class system, 56 percent of the population votes; in the U.S. in the 2000 election, only 51 percent did. Americans need to be reminded of our power as voters and we need to get more people registered vote.

MC Was there anything in the poll that surprised you?

AJ I was frustrated to see a waning interest in the environment. You know, I'm so taken by those "forest management" firms that the Bush administration has in place. It's a euphemism for deforestation. [laughs] Seriously, we all have to do our part. I'm actually selling our truck and getting a hybrid car. I'm excited about it. Hopefully, there will be more press about environmental issues, I and it'll get people interested again.

MC You've gone on record as being a strong proponent of reproductive rights, a topic far down on women's list of concerns in the poll. Did the findings worry you?

AJ You know, I have a lot of friends who would not personally choose to have an abortion. But they firmly believe it is a deeply personal, often agonizing decision that a woman should be able to make — with her partner, her healthcare provider, and maybe her preacher.

There are a lot of reasons for women to be the ones to decide when or when not to have a family. And hand in hand with reproductive rights, obviously, is the need for medically accurate sex education, family planning, and access to birth control. And if we were truly a civilized country, these things would be available in all languages, for people of all socioeconomic classes. Then, women wouldn't have unwanted pregnancies to terminate.

MC Did you grow up with that altitude?

AJ My mother always talks about how she chose not to have an abortion when she was pregnant with Wynonna. But I'm like, Mom, it was illegal at that time, that's why you didn't. My own grandmother tried to push her off a ladder!

People don't think reproductive rights are in danger, but they really, really are. There's been a very successful campaign going on to suppress the reality that Roe v. Wade may well he overturned soon. If a democrat is not elected, these rights will absolutely become more restricted.

MC So are you a feminist?

AJ First of all, I think it's important to define "feminism." Feminism means that you support social, political, and economic equality for women. Maybe if it were described in those terms more often, more people would say they're" feminists. There are still people who say they're not feminists because they don't wear Birkenstocks or let hair grow under their arms! Yes, I'm a feminist.

MC And you're also a Christian.

AJ Yes — but if this country ever dissolves the separation between church and state, I'm out of here. I've learned a lot of things from the church, though. I've learned things I like and things I don't like, and certainly I think they are equally defining. The next book I plan 10 read is actually about taking Jesus back from the right.

MC Do people challenge you on being both a (Christian and a feminist?

AJ Yes. If you define feminism in a narrow way, so that it's unflattering to men or it becomes incompatible with Christianity ... My sister, God love her, has a way of interpreting scripture so that it's actually complimentary to women. It's certainly not my interpretation, but it works for her. And I'm telling you what, there was never more equality in a household than in hers. She and her husband are a phenomenal team. They are just awesome, with each other and with their kids. But, if asked, she would say the man is the head of the house.

MC When did your ideas about feminism gel?

AJ In college. I took a women's-studies class, and it changed my life, opened everything up for me. College taught me to trust that I had a certain innate intellect, with which I could do a lot.

MC Does your husband share your passion for these issues?

AJ He's sensitive and caring, and he's so firm in what his personal beliefs are. The other night he went to see some movie filled with guns and explosions, and he's in the theater, and the woman sitting next to him had two children under the age of 5 with her. And Dario just turned to her and said, "I'm sorry, but you have to leave. You can't have those children in this movie." It was great! Out sometimes he's just very...detached.

MC Are there career-issue conflicts?

AJ Well, he's a race-car driver, and that sport makes me crazy sometimes. I mean, you'd think they would try to reach out to as many potential fans as possible, but instead, they're alienating half of society with their objectification of women. But it's his job...and it's his venue...and it's not my place. [laughs]

Ashley Judd can be seen in De-Lovely, open in select theaters as of June 25.

My mother talks about how she chose not to have an abortion. Bet I'm like, Mom, it was illegal at that time, that's why you didn't. My own grandmother tried to push her off a ladder!

Marie Claire - 2004

>> Back