During a recent interview with Esquire, actor Billy Dee Williams told the outlet that he considers himself both feminine and masculine.
“And you see, I say ‘himself’ and ‘herself,’ because I also see myself as feminine as well as masculine. I’m a very soft person. I’m not afraid to show that side of myself,” he told the interviewer.
The Internet took off with the information, praising the 82-year-old for coming out as “gender fluid.”
RELATED: Billy Dee Williams Says He’s In Touch With His Feminine Side
But the legendary performer recently explained he misunderstood and that he didn’t identify with that term.
“Well, first of all, I asked last night. I said, ‘What the hell is gender fluid?’ That’s a whole new term,” Williams told The Undefeated.
Williams clarified that he wasn’t saying he sees himself as both man and woman, but instead, he subscribes to the Carl Jung teachings that says we all possess masculine and feminine qualities.’
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“But what I was talking about was about men getting in touch with their softer side of themselves. There’s a phrase that was coined by Carl G. Jung, who was a psychiatrist, who was a contemporary of Sigmund Freud, and they had a splitting of the ways because they had different ideas about the … what do you call it? Consciousness. Unconscious. It’s collective unconsciousness. But he coined a phrase that’s, ‘Anima animus.’ And anima means that is the female counterpart of the male self, and the animus is the male counterpart of the female,” he explained.
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“So, that’s what I was referring to. I was talking about men getting in touch with the female side of themselves. I wasn’t talking about sex, I wasn’t talking about being gay or straight. People should read [Jung]. I mean, it would be an interesting education for a lot of people.”
Even though gender and sexuality are totally different, Williams reinforced that he is not a gay man.
“No, no, no, I’m not gay — by any stretch of the imagination. Not that I have anything against gay people. But personally? Not gay,” he said.
PHOTO: PR Photos
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