melissa-mccarthy-redbook-cover

Ghostbusters star Melissa McCarthy covers the April issue of Redbook and opens up about raising her two daughters Vivian, 8, and Georgette, 5.

On talking to her daughters about body image: “Give me your best punch in the face, and I’ll take that punch, rather than have my kid feel bad about herself….There’s an epidemic in our country of girls and women feeling bad about themselves based on what .5% of the human race looks like. It starts very young. My message is that as long as everybody’s healthy, enjoy and embrace whatever body type you have.”

On women who say, “I am not a feminist”: “I always think, ‘Oh, that sounds so dumb.’ And I don’t mean that in a hateful way. It just sounds so ill-informed. Do you think women should be paid less? You don’t believe in equality for women? I think people have worked hard to put a negative spin on the word.”

On women being competitive with each other: “With women, there’s this constant weird cultural thing where we’re always supposed to be comparing ourselves with one another. Who wore it best? Whose butt’s better? Instead, how about if everyone wins? How intensely boring would it be if we were all the same?”

On her new clothing line: “A good portion of women in America are size 14 and higher. I just try to make clothing that’ll make all women feel really good….When I feel good about my clothes, I’m more patient with my kids. I don’t beep at the guy in his car texting in front of me. I look at the world a little differently. The small happy moments add up. A little bit of joy goes a long way.”

For more from Melissa, go to Redbook…