'I'm not confused!' Kristen defends her sexuality

Actress Kristen Stewart is one of eight celebrities covering ELLE's 23rd Women In Hollywood issue.

And in it, the 26-year-old has opened up about her sexuality, insisting: "I'm not ashamed and I'm not confused."

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Famously known for dating her Twilight co-star Robert Pattinson, 30, Kristen has dated only women since their break-up, and believes there's been a massive shift in attitudes towards sexuality.

“Things have changed,” she tells the mag. “And not just with me - we're really allowed to encourage this new acceptance to develop and be awesome.”

RELATED: Kristen Stewart: 'My relationship with Robert Pattinson was gross'
RELATED: Kristen Stewart opens up about girlfriend Alicia Cargile

The Snow White and the Huntsman star recently split with girlfriend and her onetime personal assistant, Alicia Cargile.

And recently she's been linked to Cara Delevingne's ex, muso St. Vincent.

But while she was super-private about her romance with Rob, these days she's determined to be more open.

"When I was dating a guy I was hiding everything that I did because everything personal felt like it was immediately trivialised, so I didn't like it," she told ELLE, referencing her relationship with Rob.

"We were turned into these characters and placed into this ridiculous comic book.

"And I was like, 'That's mine. You're making my relationship something that it's not.' I didn't like that."

"It changed when I started dating a girl," she said.

"I was like, 'Actually, to hide this provides the implication that I'm not down with it or I'm ashamed of it, so I had to alter how I approached being in public. It opened my life up and I'm so much happier."

Meanwhile, Helen Mirren, Lupita Nyong'o, Amy Adams and Felicity Jones, Aja Naomi King, Anna Kendrick and Kathy Bates also cover ELLE’s Women In Hollywood issue.

Amy Adams spoke out about being lost in her 20s and finding her own voice much later in life:

"I wasn't working, and I wasn't happy. I kept trying different acting techniques, like, I'd try to act like the actresses who were getting hired. I thought maybe then I'd get a job,” the 42-year-old actress said.

“I spent the majority of my twenties trying to figure out who I was and where I fit in, not just in Hollywood, but also in the world. It took me a long time to sort of find my own voice.”

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