EMMA Watson, best known for portraying Hermione Granger in the "Harry Potter" film adaptations, has spent much of her off-screen time as a feminist advocate.
The young British actress and graduate of Brown University was appointed a United Nations women's goodwill ambassador in July 2014, and served as an advocate for HeForShe, a program that hopes "to mobilize 1 billion men to accelerate the achievement of gender equality."
She gave a memorable speech at the U.N. headquarters in New York to launch the campaign.
For years, Watson has arguably been one of Hollywood's leading voices for feminism.
But now, thanks to a photo in Vanity Fair, some are calling her a hypocrite.
The cover story, which focused on her feminist views, came out as her new film, "Beauty and the Beast," is about to hit theaters. "I used to be scared of words like 'feminism,' 'patriarchy,' 'imperialist.' But I'm not anymore," Watson said in the piece.
The piece featured photos taken by fashion photographer Tim Walker.
The shoot "felt incredibly artistic and I've been so creatively involved, and engaged with Tim, and I'm so thrilled about how interesting and beautiful the photographs were," Watson told Reuters of the shoot.
In one photograph, Watson stands in a room with fur-covered walls. In another, she is trapped in what appears to be a birdcage. And in another, her breasts are loosely covered by a white crocheted capelet.
That led some people to dismiss her history of advocacy.
One popular British radio commentator, Julia Hartley-Brewer, tweeted a photograph of the Sun's page 3, which reproduced the photo with the headline "Beauty & the breasts." Hartley-Brewer tweeted this caption:
"Emma Watson: "Feminism, feminism … gender wage gap … why oh why am I not taken seriously … feminism … oh, and here are my tits!"
The tweet was liked 4,500 times and retweeted more than 2,150 times, as of early Monday morning.
Other users fired similar barbs at the 26-year-old actress.
"Attention seeking hypocrite. acting like a slut and flashing her tits is not what a real feminist does," tweeted one. "Is Actress and Feminist Emma Watson a Hypocrite for Going Topless in Vanity Fair?" asked the Hollywood Reporter's Pret-a-Reporter. "Did Emma Watson pose 'topless' because of the patriarchy or despite of it? I doubt she knows herself," announced one particularly bold headline in the Independent.
Even CNN ran a headline posing the question: "Emma Watson's revealing Vanity Fair photo: Feminism or hypocrisy?"
Many referenced a 2014 interview Watson gave, in which she discussed Beyoncé's sexually charged music videos. Watson said:
"I felt her message felt very conflicted in the sense that on the one hand she is putting herself in a category of a feminist, you know this very strong woman and she has that beautiful speech in one of her songs but then the camera, it felt very male, such a male voyeuristic experience of her."
The criticism reached such intensity, Watson responded during an interview with Reuters on Sunday.
She said she mostly felt "quietly stunned."
"It just always reveals to me how many misconceptions and what a misunderstanding there is about what feminism is," she continued. "Feminism is about giving women choice. Feminism is not a stick with which to beat other women with. It's about freedom, it's about liberation, it's about equality. I really don't know what my tits have to do with it. It's very confusing."
Added Watson, "I'm confused. Most people are confused. No, I'm just always just quietly stunned."
She wasn't short on defenders, either.
"If we belabor these attempts to essentialize feminism as a specific set of traits and behaviors, we're going to trudge through an elliptical - not to mention deeply unproductive - conversation," wrote Jezebel contributor Rachel Vorona Cote.
Feminist organizers and writer Gloria Steinem put it most bluntly in an interview with TMZ.
"Feminists can wear anything they f--ing want," Steinem said, adding about those attacking Watson: "Perhaps they have an incomplete idea of who women are."
The Washington Post
Mon Mar 06 2017
Cast member Emma Watson poses at the premiere of 'Beauty and the Beast' in Los Angeles, California, U.S. March 2, 2017. REUTERS/File Photo
[TERKINI] UM diminta siasat, sedia laporan segera
Kementerian Pendidikan Tinggi (KPT) mengambil maklum dan memandang serius isu yang berlaku berhubung tindakan seorang penceramah warga asing mengeluarkan kenyataan yang dilihat mencetuskan kontroversi dan tidak menghormati sentimen masyarakat seperti tular di media sosial.
Astro AWANI dinobat adaptasi AI dalam pemberitaan terbaik di pentas Asia
Astro AWANI dinobat sebagai pemenang Anugerah Digital Media Awards 2024 bagi kategori adaptasi Teknologi Kecerdasan Buatan (AI) dalam pemberitaan terbaik di rantau Asia.
MITI optimis prestasi perdagangan lebih baik pada 2024
Tengku Zafrul menjelaskan, MITI juga memperbaharui fokusnya dengan berpaksikan kepada empat tunjang utama iaitu ekonomi, kelestarian, rakyat dan inovasi.
Pekebun durian musang king gagal dapat kebenaran semakan kehakiman
Mahkamah Tinggi tolak permohoan pekebun musang king untuk semakan kehakiman
Mahkamah Tinggi Kuantan menolak permohonan 186 pekebun durian musang king di sekitar Raub untuk mendapatkan kebenaran semakan kehakiman terhadap notis arahan pengosongan tanah dikeluarkan kerajaan negeri Pahang sebelum ini.
Mahkamah Tinggi Kuantan menolak permohonan 186 pekebun durian musang king di sekitar Raub untuk mendapatkan kebenaran semakan kehakiman terhadap notis arahan pengosongan tanah dikeluarkan kerajaan negeri Pahang sebelum ini.
Inspektor polis ditahan disyaki lakukan amang seksual fizikal
Seorang pegawai polis berpangkat inspektor ditahan bagi membantu siasatan berhubung dakwaan melakukan amang seksual fizikal
ke atas kanak-kanak perempuan berumur 16 tahun.
Ketua Polis Johor, Komisioner Polis M. Kumar berkata suspek yang bertugas di Ibu Pejabat Polis Daerah Pontian dikatakan melakukan kesalahan tersebut pada 22 April 2024 sekitar jam 6 petang di kawasan taman Johor Jaya.
ke atas kanak-kanak perempuan berumur 16 tahun.
Ketua Polis Johor, Komisioner Polis M. Kumar berkata suspek yang bertugas di Ibu Pejabat Polis Daerah Pontian dikatakan melakukan kesalahan tersebut pada 22 April 2024 sekitar jam 6 petang di kawasan taman Johor Jaya.
[TERKINI] Pang Sock Tao diangkat jadi calon Kerajaan Perpaduan di Kuala Kubu Baharu
Setiausaha Akhbar kepada Menteri Perumahan dan Kerajaan Tempatan, Pang Sock Tao diumumkan sebagai calon yang akan mewakili Kerajaan Perpaduan pada Pilihan Raya Kecil (PRK) Dewan Undangan Negeri (DUN) Kuala Kubu Baharu.
Mendiang Sivasutan sumber kebahagiaan keluarga
Juruterbang Pesawat Fennec (M502-6), mendiang Leftenan T. Sivasutan, 31, adalah sumber kebahagiaan dan simbol kejayaan keluarga pasangan bekas guru, M. Thanjappan, 61 dan isterinya, R. Paramesvary, 60.
Menurut Thanajappan, sebagai anak lelaki tunggal, mendiang tidak pernah meninggikan suara atau menolak apa sahaja permintaan keluarga.
Menurut Thanajappan, sebagai anak lelaki tunggal, mendiang tidak pernah meninggikan suara atau menolak apa sahaja permintaan keluarga.
Anak tidak putus-putus Panggil ‘’daddy’’ di pengebumian
Panggilan ‘daddy’ di pengebumian wira Wan Rezaudeen Kamal buat orang ramai sebak
Di Tanah Perkuburan Raudhatul Sakinah, Taman Selasih di Batu Caves, Selangor...
Anak kecil Allahyarham Leftenan Komander Wan Rezaudeen Kamal Wan Zainal Abidin, tidak putus-putus memanggil "Daddy".
Bergenang air mata ahli keluarga dan anggota tentera yang hadir melihat raut wajah dan panggilan manja Wan Alyan Riz yang hanya berusia empat tahun.
Di Tanah Perkuburan Raudhatul Sakinah, Taman Selasih di Batu Caves, Selangor...
Anak kecil Allahyarham Leftenan Komander Wan Rezaudeen Kamal Wan Zainal Abidin, tidak putus-putus memanggil "Daddy".
Bergenang air mata ahli keluarga dan anggota tentera yang hadir melihat raut wajah dan panggilan manja Wan Alyan Riz yang hanya berusia empat tahun.
Jenazah Komander Muhammad Firdaus selamat dikebumikan
Jenazah Pegawai Memerintah Skuadron 503, Komander Muhammad Firdaus Ramli 44 tahun yang terkorban dalam nahas dua helikopter bertembung di Pangkalan Tentera Laut Diraja Malaysia (TLDM) Lumut, selamat dikebumikan di kampung halamannya di Sungai Nibong, Pulau Pinang pada Rabu malam.
Ketua PBB gerakkan pemimpin global untuk tindakan iklim menjelang 2025
PBB melancarkan inisiatif Janji Iklim 2025 pada Selasa, usaha bersepadu global untuk mencegah suhu daripada meningkat melebihi 1.5 darjah Celsius seperti yang termaktub dalam Perjanjian Paris.