Emma Watson is most known as the wickedly smart, always-saving-the-day Hermione Granger from the Harry Potter franchise or as Belle from the new live-action Disney film Beauty and the Beast. Though I absolutely love her in these roles, I love her even more outside her characters (which can’t always be said for actors who play amazing characters). Emma Watson in a Bad A Feminist, and has been working to change the world by using her platform to promote gender equality and raise awareness to current issues important to the Feminist Movement.
Emma was born in Paris, France. Her parents were both English lawyers, but after their divorce when she was young, she moved to England and lived primarily with her mom. J.K. Rowling was a fan of Emma’s from her first screen test audition for Hermione Granger in 1999, and she was (obviously) cast as the role along with the other two of the fabulous three. And the rest is HERstory.
Emma started to dismantle the patriarchy the same way Hermione dealt with Draco’s immaturity; with a swift punch to the nose.
After Harry Potter finished filming, she attended Brown University, where she graduated with her Bachelor’s Degree in English Literature. Amongst her other movie roles, Emma has worked as a model (heading up Burberry’s 2009 fall/winter line, and 2010 spring/summer line), a certified yoga instructor, and as a creative advisor for fashion branch People Tree, a fair-trade apparel company. But perhaps her most groundbreaking and impactful work started when she was named as a United Nation’s Goodwill Ambassador.
In this new role, Emma helped the U.N. launch their 2014 “HeForShe” campaign, by giving a speech at the U.N. Headquarters in New York City. This inspiring speech set a ripple affect into the universe. The “HeForShe” campaign, which calls for men to advocate for gender equality, made a huge splash in Feminism, but caught unsightly attention from misogynistic A Holes; 12 hours after giving her speech, Emma started receiving threats. However, she didn’t let the threats bring her down or affect her work. Emma stated that if they were trying to put her off women's rights work, it had the opposite effect.
She continued 2014 with her first U.N. trip to Uruguay, where she gave a speech about female participation in politics. In 2015, she gave another speech at the World Economic Forum’s annual conference, and at 25 years old, made Time 100’s list of the World’s Most Influential People, at #26, which cited her work for women’s rights and her call for male participation in the feminist movement as a "gutsy, smart take on feminism”.
In January 2016, Emma started the online feminist book club Our Shared Shelf (located on Good Reads), which I couldn’t wait to enjoy! It created a community of both celebrity and non-celebrity women reading amazing feminist literature and talking about it via the online forum…what more could you want?!
Emma has positively shaped my outlook on life in so many ways. She is a bright, shining example of how to stand up for what you believe in and fight against injustices. She is incredibly smart, nice, humble, brave, devoted, and passionate about making the world a better place, and she sparks courage in me to continue the good fight.
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