Emma Watson Defends Vanity Fair Photo: Feminism Is Choice, Freedom, And Equality

Emma Watson addressed the controversy surrounding her revealing Vanity Fair photos. The actress defended her photo shoot and said that feminism is not a “stick to beat other women with,” but rather a woman’s choice, freedom, and equality.

Emma Watson has received a lot of negative feedback for her Vanity Fair photoshoot, in which she posed with her breasts partially exposed.

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Watson hit back at her critics, saying that people who believe that this photo discredits or undermines her feminist ideals “just always reveals to me how many misconceptions and what a misunderstand there is about what feminism is.”

The gender equality activist launched the #HeForShe campaign, which is dedicated to enlisting men to fight for women’s rights.

Watson continued by saying that feminism was about “giving women a 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. It’s very confusing.”

Emma Watson posed for the most recent issue of Vanity Fair in a creme-colored crochet bolero jacket without anything underneath.

The Beauty and the Beast actress graced the cover of the March, 2017, issue.

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Watson defended her photo shoot in an interview with Reuters.

“I’m confused. Most people are confused. No, I’m just always just quietly stunned.”

Inside the issue of Vanity Fair, Emma Watson speaks about the positives and negatives about having a career in the public eye.

“I’ve been doing this since I was 10 or 11, and I’ve often thought, ‘I’m so wrong for this job because I’m too serious; I’m a pain in the a**; I’m difficult; I don’t fit.'”

The U.N. Women Goodwill Ambassador said that as she grew up she realized that “taking on those battles, the smaller ones and the bigger ones, is who I am.”

Watson’s Vanity Fair cover has sparked a lot of attention online.

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Radio host Julia Hartley-Brewer wrote the following on Twitter.

“Emma Watson: ‘Feminism, feminism… gender wage gap… why oh why am I not taken seriously… feminism… oh, and here are my t**ts!'”

Watson did the cover of Vanity Fair to promote her new film, Disney’s live-action version of Beauty and the Beast.

“We’d been doing so many crazy things on that shoot but it 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.”

Bill Condon, the director of the Beauty and the Beast remake told People that he wanted to ensure that Watson’s character, Belle, “remained a feminist figure and someone who looks to the future.”

Condon continued to say that Watson gave the book-loving character the dimension of having a passion for helping others.

“In the original film she’s someone who loves reading, and in this film, she’s equally concerned with teaching other girls how to read.”

The film director said that it was no coincidence that Belle’s new characteristics reflected Emma Watson’s in real life.

“It’s interesting how when we would think of ideas for Belle, it was like, ‘Wow that’s what [Watson] is doing in her own life.'”

What do you think of Emma Watson’s Vanity Fair cover? Let us know in the comments section below.

[Featured Image by Frazer Harrison/Staff/Getty Images]