INQUISITR.COM / Entertainment

‘Feminism [Is] Freedom’: Emma Watson Responds To ‘Topless’ Photo Controversy

By Jovi Figueroa
Published on: 00:42 PST, Mar 5, 2017

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zoYL-MEMJvo

Emma Watson finally responds to controversies surrounding her “almost topless” photo for Vanity Fair and clarifies that feminism should be about freedom, not hate.

Emma Watson has been in the headlines more so than usual since her upcoming film, Beauty and the Beast, started to make noise. But earlier this week, Emma Watson has been a hot topic of debate ever since her photo shoot with Vanity Fair came out, which featured her posing in a Burberry cut-out crochet open top.

Telegraph reported that the Vanity Fair photo that has stirred controversy this week has received varied reactions on social media. Other regarded Emma Watson’s “almost topless” photo a bravely feminist shoot, while others criticized her for baring her breasts despite her calls for feminism and women empowerment.

One of the more popular people who attacked Emma Watson’s controversial photo shoot was Julia Hartley-Brewer, a talkRadio presenter and Telegraph columnist, who went to Twitter to call Emma Watson “hypocritical.”

But Emma Watson has had enough of people making up their own version of feminism, of people putting a dress code on gender equality. In a Beauty and the Beast interview on BBC News (which you could watch above), Emma Watson finally speaks up against the hate getting thrown at her for her almost-but-not-quite-topless photo shoot for Vanity Fair’s cover story.

Emma Watson, right off the bat, said she was “confused” about the controversy.

“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 t–s have to do with it.”

Talking with Beauty and the Beast co-actor Dan Stevens, who will play Beast, Emma added the following.

“I’m confused! I’m always just kind of quietly stunned. They were saying I couldn’t be a feminist and have b–bs.”

Emma Watson has been a staunch advocate of women’s rights and she has a long history of work involving feminism. In fact, in 2014, Emma Watson has been appointed as the UN Women Goodwill Ambassador, which precedes the UN Women campaign HeForShe.

HeForShe is a campaign that calls men to advocate for gender equality, and Emma Watson has been at the forefront of this campaign, among other women’s rights work.

Emma Watson is also the proponent behind a feminist Goodreads book club called “Our Shared Shelf,” which encourages readers to share their favorite feminist books and discussion on the topic.

Why people are harassing Emma Watson for that one photo, among dozens more, continues to puzzle Emma, alongside her many fans and supporters. The Independent writes it quite beautifully.

“The patriarchy will tell us to cover up, and it will tell us to strip down. To do either would both embrace and defy its rules. Watson has found herself caught in this paradox, as so many women have before her. And it’s not just a matter of clothes. The catch-22s that plague women are endless: be confident but be humble, be pretty but don’t ‘know it,’ be opinionated but don’t be outspoken. These are directly contradictory ideas.

“So when you say that Emma Watson is being contrary, you certainly have a point. But don’t make her semi-nudity the pinnacle of her emancipation, or use it to relegate her from the feminist ranks. Because the only thing ‘having its cake and eating it too’ here is the patriarchy.”

Catch Emma Watson’s beautiful Vanity Fair photos below.

[Featured Image by Frazer Harrison/Getty Images]

Share this article: ‘Feminism [Is] Freedom’: Emma Watson Responds To ‘Topless’ Photo Controversy
emma watson Vanity Fair feminism
More from Inquisitr