Emma Watson called ‘hypocrite’ for going topless in Vanity Fair
LOS ANGELES: Actress and feminist Emma Watson has been denigrated as a “hypocrite” for going topless on Vanity Fair magazine.
Watson, noted feminist and star of Disney’s upcoming live-action fi lm “Beauty and the Beast”, is being labelled a “hypocrite” for exposing her breasts.
The photo in question, lensed by British shutterbug Tim Walker and styled by Vanity Fair fashion and style director Jessica Diehl, features Watson in a cape, sheer shirt and lace skirt from Burberry’s February collection.
It has sparked debate on social media about whether or not the image, which casts Watson as an object of the male gaze or perhaps as a # FreetheNipple crusader, depending on your point of view, runs counter to her role as a women’s rights advocate. She’s addressed the United Nations on the topic of women’s rights, and is a spokeswomen for its HeForShe campaign, which calls on men to promote gender equality.
One Instagram user @ w2hide, commented, “# hypocrite, lost respect for all your work. Complete opposite of what you preach. Don’t give men and society what they want. You disappoint me.” Others argued otherwise. User @ fitnessgurls simply wrote: “People in 2017 still don’t get feminism. # LoveThis.”
Radio presenter Julia HartleyBrewer posted a tweet criticising her (“Emma Watson: ‘Feminism, feminism... gender wage gap... why oh why am I not taken seriously... feminism... oh, and here are my tits!’”) that also led many to defend Watson.
“Feminism is about giving women FREE CHOICE. They can cover up or expose their bodies as they want. You’ve missed the point,” Twitter user @ EvieA_ x responded to Hartley-Brewer. Several people have come under fi re for appearing in fashion editorials guilty of cultural appropriation. Karlie Kloss recently got into trouble for dressing as a geisha for Vogue’s March “Diversity” issue, for example. The images have since been removed from Vogue.com and Kloss has issued an apology.
“These images appropriate a culture that is not my own and I am truly sorry for participating in a shoot that was not culturally sensitive,” she wrote.
Watson has yet to address the backlash.