I saw everyone on twitter tearing Emma Watson apart for saying sheāsĀ self - partneredĀ instead of single and decided to watch her interview for British Vogue to know what the hell was she trying to say with that. I was very surprised to find a 30 minute video in which amongst other things she talks about the following:
She felt undeserving when she was appointed as UN Women goodwill ambassador and sought out Gloria Steinem to learn about feminist activism.
She thinks the criticism she received for being a white feminist was useful because it made her educate herself.
She says thereās a desperate need to reform the education system in the UK to change the way they are taught the history of how Britain has been involved in foreign affairs and how they profited from slavery.
She felt anxious about approaching 30 because thereās a lot of pressure to have a husband and a baby by then and sheās still figuring her life out.
She was so young when she was casted in Harry Potter that she doesnāt remember much of her life before it and she went to therapy to deal with her issues with fame. She used to feel very guilty for being unhappy because she thought she should enjoy fame more.
The interviewer is a transgender woman and they discuss transgender issues for a while. Emma is in regular contact with a trans child which makes the topic of trans rights emotional for her because sheās very anxious for this kidās safety.
She talks about her role as Meg March in the new Little Women movie and defends that unlike what many people say choosing to be a wife and a mother doesnāt make Meg a less feminist character and quotes a line from the movie, āJust because my dreams are different than yours it doesnāt mean they are unimportant.ā Ā
She wishes more people would realize sheās not Hermione Granger but also understands why they want to see that in her because Hermione is a symbol for her too.
She used to think she could never be happy without a partner and now that she has learnt to navigate that better and is genuinely happy single sheās started to think of herself as self - partnered in contrast to the time when she thought of herself as single = lonely.
Every media outlet decided to focus in an out of context quote from the three minutes she talked about her dating life when the actual interview had a lot of depth and way more important things were discussed. Iām sad and angry but not surprised.
