Watson: Breasts no feminist issue

BRITAIN: Emma Watson has hit back at critics who have claimed her controversial topless photo shoot for Vanity Fair undermines her feminist views.

The actress was criticised after one of the photographs, by fashion photographer Tim Walker, showed her posing in a white crocheted jacket with no top or bra on underneath.

Journalist and broadcaster Julia Hartley-brewer wrote on Twitter: ‘‘Emma Watson: ‘Feminism, feminism... gender wage gap... why oh why am I not taken seriously... feminism... oh, and here are my t---!’’

Others claimed on Twitter that the shoot was no different from The Sun’s page 3, which has often been accused of objectifying women.

But in a BBC interview, alongside Dan Stevens, her co-star in her new film, Beauty and the Beast, the 26-year-old actress said her choice to pose topless did not undermine her feminism.

‘‘Feminism is not a stick with which to beat other women,’’ she said. ‘‘It’s about freedom, it’s about liberation, it’s about equality.

‘‘I really don’t know what my t--have to do with it.’’

She added that she was ‘‘confused’’ and ‘‘quietly stunned’’ by the debate. Some observers defended her, arguing that clothing has little to do with her credentials as a feminist.

The actress, who played Hermione Granger in the Harry Potter films, has been a highprofile advocate for women’s

"Feminism is not a stick with which to beat other women. It's about freedom, it's about liberation, it's about equality." Emma Watson

rights for several years.

She was appointed as Women’s Goodwill Ambassador by the United Nations in July 2014.

In September that year, she started Heforshe, a campaign which aims to encourage men to stand up for women’s rights.

She has previously spoken out against the gender pay gap and last year began a feminist book club, Our Shared Shelf.

- Telegraph Group