Emma Watson isn’t just an actress and icon known for bringing magical and fairytale-esque characters to life; she’s an activist for human rights, someone who recognizes the importance of feminism and equality, and a celebrity who has a fan base that she considers close to her heart.
Be it during a speech at a special event for the HeForShe Campaign, during an interview, or in a series of tweets, Watson has always allowed her fans to recognize her platforms and her fandom as a safe place for them to share space and honor one another and themselves for who they are. This was especially important during the moments, months, and now years post- J.K. Rowling’s adversarial statements about the trans community and activism.
Glamour shared this thread on Twitter that highlights what Rowling was speaking out for and against, and the beginning of the unavoidable turning point for fans. The Harry Potter community was a place where people worldwide felt safe; people from different backgrounds, circumstances, sexualities, nationalities, etc., could come together and find a place to believe in magic again. Rowling’s comments alienated a group of those believers and made them feel unsafe there. Watson, of course, is a Harry Potter realm alum who shares a note of love and respect with trans people who follow her worldwide.
Watson was also talking about the idea of feminism, and she best explains why in a quote from her speech at the HeForShe event in 2014. Feminism is a belief that everyone should embrace, and one everyone benefits from when it’s embraced by all.
“For the record, feminism by definition is: ‘The belief that men and women should have equal rights and opportunities. It is the theory of the political, economic and social equality of the sexes.’ I started questioning gender-based assumptions when at eight, I was confused at being called ‘bossy,’ because I wanted to direct the plays we would put on for our parents—but the boys were not. When at 14, I started being sexualized by certain elements of the press. When at 15, my girlfriends started dropping out of their sports teams because they didn’t want to appear ‘muscly.’ When at 18, my male friends were unable to express their feelings. I decided I was a feminist, and this seemed uncomplicated to me. But my recent research has shown me that feminism has become an unpopular word. Apparently, I am among the ranks of women whose expressions are seen as too strong, too aggressive, isolating, anti-men, and unattractive. Why is the word such an uncomfortable one?”
Not only did Watson note the importance of feminism, but she also attempted to regulate it as a word we should all honor, vs. one that makes certain audiences shudder at its sound. We can all relate to Watson’s comments as she remarks upon friends who dropped out of sports to stop appearing too “muscular,” and others who were afraid to share their feelings upon reaching a certain age. Many of us were taught to be more of this or less of that as we grew up, but for some, it was a matter of success vs. failure and love vs. dissociation. It wasn’t as simple as growing up; it was growing into a mold or feeling unsafe, and Watson firmly believes that we should all feel comfortable being our most authentic selves, no matter what.
It’s in moments when the spotlight is on her, and more importantly, in situations when it isn’t that Watson’s truth speaks loudly; hers is a safe space for anyone, she wants equality for everyone, and she believes that feminism is something that should affect us all. It wasn’t always easy for Watson to embrace that lifestyle, however, and in a chat with Vanity Fair in 2017, she said that words like feminism used to scare her.
“I used to be scared of words like ‘feminism,’ ‘patriarchy,’ ‘imperialist.’ But I’m not anymore,” and the fear she relinquished around the word has inspired others to do the same. Executive Director of U.N. Women, Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, said that Watson’s speech in 2014 helped take some of the negative connotations away from the idea of feminism.
“For a time, there was a conversation about whether ‘feminism’ was a good thing or a bad thing,” Glamour notes that Mlambo-Ngcuka credits Watson for “giving us the word back.” While positivity, feminism, and honor can’t give back what has been taken from the Harry Potter community, Watson and some of her co-stars have tried to empower us to find ways to spread magic and love in our lives.
On feminism, Watson explains it best, “It is not the word that is important but the idea and the ambition behind it.” May we all put ambition behind the fight for equality in our own lives.