Joseph Gordon-Levitt is a feminist.

The 'Dark Knight Rises' actor doesn't believe people should be defined on restricted by their gender and has made a video explaining his views.

In his 'Re: Feminism' film, which has been posted on his HitRecord production company's YouTube Channel, he said: ''Your gender does not have to define who you are. That you can be whatever you want to be whoever you want to be regardless of your gender.''

The 33-year-old star went on to discuss the differing viewpoints he discovered while investigating feminism and explained what he had learned from his feminist mother.

He continued: ''So not only was feminism something that my mom taught me about, motherhood is right at the core of what feminism is or isn't...For me as a feminist, it should be up to the woman to decide if she wants to be a mom.

''If that's what she wants to do full-time, that's awesome, that's what my mom did. But if she wants to go out and have a career apart from being a mom, then she should be able to do that as well, and that's to the benefit of everybody.''

The video closes with an appeal to fans, with Joseph asking for views on what feminism means and whether people consider themselves to be feminist, as he aims to produce a film of the submitted opinions in a bid to inspire others.