Demi Lovato Wants You To Know That She Still Hates Taylor Swift

Demi Lovato is on the cover of November's Glamour Magazine. Here's what she had to say:

GLAMOUR: You call yourself a feminist

DL: I believe in gender equality.

GLAMOUR: And you’ve said before, in regard to Taylor Swift, “Don’t brand yourself a feminist if you don’t do the work.” How do you see yourself doing the work?

DL: Just speaking out. I’m not afraid to talk about the fact that women get paid less than men in the United States and how unfair that is. Talking about it at all is doing the work. And I think every woman does her part in some way. But I think in certain situations, certain people could be doing more if they’re going to claim that as part of their brand. To be honest, and this will probably get me in trouble, I don’t see anybody in any sort of squad that has a normal body. It’s kind of this false image of what people should look like. And what they should be like, and it’s not real.

GLAMOUR: Well, there are many kinds of “normal” bodies. I think what you’re getting at is there’s just one type of body in that squad.

DL: It’s not realistic. And I think that having a song and a video about tearing Katy Perry down, that’s not women’s empowerment. We all do things that aren’t, but I have to ask myself, Am I content with calling myself a feminist? Yes, because I speak out.

GLAMOUR: You’re evolving toward this sexier sound. Why did you want to explore your sexuality in your music?

DL: I had a conversation with Nick [Jonas], who said, “You never write about sex.” And I was like, “What are you talking about? ‘Cool for the Summer.’ ” And he pushed back: “No, but you’ve never embraced that side of your writing.” I really hadn’t. I shied away from it; I have parents that’ll hear my music! But I realized I’m leaving out an element of adulthood. I wrote “Body Say” a few weeks later—that was liberating. I want to write more about it.

GLAMOUR: What has informed your attitude toward sexuality?

DL: Relationships, and being in tune with my body, and knowing what I want—that’s what “Body Say” is about.

DL: I was judgmental of artists who were exploring their sexuality, and I thought, Why are they doing that? They don’t have to. They’ve got a good voice.

GLAMOUR: Like who?

DL: Christina Aguilera, during Dirrty [in 2002]. I thought, Her mom’s gonna hear that—how is she not embarrassed? Now I realize these artists were embracing a part of life I should be OK singing about as well. There’s nothing wrong with a woman being proud of an element of her life that’s talked about in rap music all the time! We don’t have music that talks about sexuality from a female standpoint. You know that rap song “Beat the Pussy Up”? If a girl sang that—

GLAMOUR: “Beat the Dick Up”?

DL: First of all, I would love it. But secondly, it would be such a big deal. We live in an imbalanced society when it comes to encouraging male sexuality and discouraging female sexuality. In 20 years I hope we’ll look back like, Wow, that’s how it used to be.