Emma Watson, an actress known widely for her role as Hermione Granger and her upcoming role as Belle in Beauty & The Beast is being featured on the cover of Vanity Fair's April issue. The photos are undeniably stunning, but unfortunately her beauty is being overshadowed by something else; a debate regarding what it means to be feminist. After posing topless for Vanity Fair, Watson's feminist ideals are being thrown into question, starting a fiery debate on the Internet: Can you be a feminist and still pose topless?
Julia Hartley-Brewer, an English broadcaster on a talk radio show, has been particularly vocal regarding her opinion, tweeting:
The comment won Hartley-Brewer widespread attention on the Internet, both negative and positive.
I myself had a few different problems with this tweet.
1. Her tweet suggests that Watson's message of wage equality and proper respect for women is diminished when she poses topless, as if these aren't still relevant and important issues.
2. She seems to think that Emma Watson isn't a feminist for posing topless, that her words don't match her actions. However, is it not a feminist ideal that women should be allowed to bare skin without being slut shamed for it? Emma Watson chose to pose topless, as is her right to, and she is still a feminist for doing so.
In response to the criticism, Emma Watson said:
"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," (BBC 2017).
The fact that Hartley-Brewer even thought to make this tweet is a testament to the need for feminism. If gender equality were to be a reality, no one would have reacted to Emma Watson's breasts, nor would they question her integrity because of it.
But that's besides the point. The need for feminism speaks for itself. The point here is that people are challenging Watson's feminism due to a topless photo, therefore completely misunderstanding what it means to be a feminist.
To be a feminist is to fight for wage equality. Everyone deserves equal pay for equal work. Leave chromosomes - or all DNA, for that matter - out of the equation.
To be a feminist is to fight for equal respect, meaning that women should be able to have sex with whomever she wishes without being judged for it. Heterosexual men do need women to have sex with, after all, so why are men applauded while women are shamed?
To be a feminist is to fight against “prude” and “slut.” We are all just humans with human desires but no matter what choices we make for ourselves, women are still called names. We can’t win either way.
To be a feminist is to fight for the right to make decisions about our bodies and our futures.
To be a feminist is to fight for the equality of all women, regardless of race, age, class, country of origin, sexual identity, or assigned sex.
To be a feminist is to fight for the right to take off our shirts without judgement.
So to all of my fellow feminists, take those shirts off if that's what you want to do. Or don't. Because either way, you're still the same powerful woman you've always been.
Resources:
CNN. "Emma Watson Responds to Vanity Fair Photo Controversy." BBC News. BBC, 05 Mar. 2017. Web. 05 Mar. 2017.