Emma Watson Holds Facebook Q&A on International Women's Day 

By Stassa Edwards  |  March 8, 2015 | 10:45pm
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Emma Watson held a Facebook Q & A session where she spoke openly about a range of topics, from gender inequality, to gendered stereotypes and harassment. Speaking live to publicize the HeForShe campaign, the actress spoke openly about her own experience with harassment after her much-praised 2014 UN speech.

“When they saw that the minute I stepped up and talked about women’s rights I was immediately threatened,” Watson said. “I mean, within less than 12 hours I was receiving threats.”

“There was a website set up that was threatening to release naked images of me, with…like…a countdown and whatever else,” she added. “I knew it was a hoax, the pictures didn’t exist.”

The threats, however, didn’t leave Hermione Granger trembling, “If anything, it made me so much more determined,” Watson said. “I was raging.”

Watson also delivered some standard feminist applause lines, like “If you believe in equality, you’re a feminist. Sorry to tell you.” Lines that are, admittedly, still refreshing to hear from someone with such a large platform.

She also directly addressed some of the criticisms from her 2014 speech, namely that she had focused too much on the actions of men, prioritizing them over those who “most need feminism’s help.” Watson emphasized that HeForShe is not about “men saving women” and acknowledged that: “Oppressions are interlocking and intersectionality is a really important word here.”

Screenshot from Facebook.

 
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