Julie Bishop has stood by her label as a non-feminist, saying her actions matter more than words.
The Foreign Minister appeared on the ABC’s Q&A program on Monday, dismissing the notion that she avoided the label due to its potential as a political liability.
Ms Bishop told the all woman panel, gathered for International Women's Day, that she didn’t want to be "pigeon-holed".
"I don’t want to be stereotyped and I don't want to be pigeon-holed," she said. "If I want to self-describe in a particular way, I will… Instead of labels, let’s focus on what we do."
Ms Bishop laughed off a question about men being intimidated by powerful women, instead stating that her position was a "very powerful" one in the Liberal Party.
'The word feminist in the Muslim community is extremely inflammatory'
Ms Bishop was joined on the panel by founder of Youth Without Borders, Yassmin Abdel-Magied.
Ms Abdel-Magied, the 2010 Young Australian of the Year, spoke on being a daughter of migrants and the conflicting expectations she had for herself as a Muslim, a feminist and a member of a Sudanese family.
She said even in her Muslim community, the word feminist was "extremely inflammatory".
"As a Muslim woman, I’m often asked how can you possibly Muslim and be a feminist," she said.
"A lot of Muslim women see our religion as a tool of liberation and a basis to say, 'hey, we all agree that this book is divine and we’ve been given equal rights in this book, so you have to agree with it'."
