Kaley Cuoco-Sweeting apologizes for saying she's not a feminist

Maria Puente | USA TODAY

Kaley Cuoco-Sweeting fell into the "I'm not a feminist" trap and had to apologize to extricate herself.

A win for feminism or a win for anti-feminism? Maybe more like a win for tweet-shaming.

Cuoco-Sweeting, star of The Big Bang Theory, stepped into a wasps' nest when she made a mild comment about whether she considers herself a feminist in an interview with Redbook.

"Is it bad if I say no? It's not really something I think about," she mused. "Things are different now, and I know a lot of the work that paved the way for women happened before I was around. ... I was never that feminist girl demanding equality, but maybe that's because I've never really faced inequality."

She also said she loves cooking for her husband, Ryan Sweeting, five nights a week.

"It makes me feel like a housewife," she said. "I love that. I know it sounds old-fashioned, but I like the idea of women taking care of their men. I'm so in control of my work that I like coming home and serving him. My mom was like that, so I think it kind of rubbed off."

But being young (she's 29) and liking to cook for your spouse is not in conflict with being a feminist; feminism, as has often been pointed out, is about getting to choose, which is what Kaley is doing.

Still, some people on Twitter thought her comments were "disappointing," as expressed in tweets like these:

This was quickly followed by tweets from those with no love for feminists leaping to her defense.

By New Year's Day, Cuoco-Sweeting was trying to explain, via her Instagram page. Her comments were taken "out of context," she said, and then she apologized.

"I'm completely blessed and grateful that strong women have paved the way for my success along with many others. I apologize if anyone was offended. Anyone that truly knows me, knows my heart and knows what I meant. ❤️"

Now the conversation, such as it is, has moved on, with tweeters wondering such things as why anyone cares which celebs consider themselves feminists, and whether the term is relevant to young people born after the second-wave era of feminism, with its bra-burning activism.

This episode (one of a long line in recent years, by the way) suggests that feminism is no more a settled issue in America than is racism. As long as that's the case, people, including celebs, will continue to argue about it on social media.