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.
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'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'."
