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While answering 35 questions “designed to reveal the nature of one’s true personality,” Zendaya recently shut down an outdated question surrounding what she likes most in the opposite sex. After correcting the questionnaire’s terminology, and using some of her own that she felt more comfortable with, the star emphasized “good people” being able to be of any gender in her eyes.
As per Vanity Fair‘s Proust Questionnaire, a parlor game adopted by the publication that was originally popularized by French essayist Marcel Proust, after being asked question 12, which is, “What is the quality you most like in a man?” Zendaya opted to make the wording more inclusive by switching “man,” to phrases that could be applied to any one of any gender orientation.
“I most like in a person. How about that?” Zendaya corrected, removing the focus of the question from gender.
Then proceeding to answer the question’s root, which encouraged her to explain what quality she found to be the best in a person, the actress continued, “Oh, this is, this is so — it’s such a big question. What is a quality I most like in someone? I would say kindness is kind of like — not the best way to describe it, but some people are just good people and you can just feel it. I don’t know how to explain that, but there’s like this little spark they have or this little special thing that they have that just, you feel safe and happy around them. I don’t know what that is but some people have it and it’s special.”
For the record, the reporter followed the star’s response by asking the next question on the list, “What is the quality you most like in a woman?” to which Zendaya replied, “Well, I guess that’s the same answer.”
While it’s a small tidbit, Zendaya’s response does reveal something deeper about her personality. While her sexuality isn’t anyone’s business, if anything, calling out and rewording the Proust Questionnaire does showcase how important overall inclusiveness is for the star. Coming off of the high of her recent press run for the film Malcolm & Marie, the former childhood star clearly wants the world to know that as an adult, she’s open to anyone who’s got a “little spark.”
