Nick Offerman: We can stop discussing feminism when guys 'can legitimately complain'

Nick Offerman talks about gumption, Yoko Ono, and feminism
(Image credit: Time/YouTube)

Actor and woodcraft enthusiast Nick Offerman has a book out with profiles of people he admires, and he sat down with Time to discuss what its title, Gumption, means to him. Gumption is a quality that connects a diverse group including Conan O'Brien, Willie Nelson, and Yoko Ono, he explained, and "it involves spunk and courage and stamina and character and integrity." And if openly expressing your admiration for Yoko Ono isn't brave enough, Offerman broached the subject of feminism:

Feminism is an important quality, I think, in society, and something that needs to be talked about until we can legitimately complain — until the guys are, like, "Hey, hang on, you're making more money than us." That's when we can stop talking about feminism. We are slowly evolving. [Offerman]

Ono and Eleanor Roosevelt worked tirelessly to promote the idea that we can get along rather than fight, facing down "boys around a table, like, wanting to throw spears at each other," Offerman said. And with his book he's "hoping to do my little bit toward helping us evolve toward a place where we stop shooting at each other." Watch the short interview below. —Peter Weber

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Peter Weber

Peter Weber is a senior editor at TheWeek.com, and has handled the editorial night shift since the website launched in 2008. A graduate of Northwestern University, Peter has worked at Facts on File and The New York Times Magazine. He speaks Spanish and Italian and plays bass and rhythm cello in an Austin rock band. Follow him on Twitter.