
In the midst of taking a year off to work on âpersonal developmentâ and dedicate herself to feminism, Emma Watson spoke to Esquire U.K. for their âWomen & Menâ issue, discussing topics like equal pay, Photoshopped magazine covers, and clueless male feminists.
Watson shares the April cover with a man, Tom Hanks, who says she loves and respects for being âauthentic.â In keeping with the issueâs theme, the majority of the Q&A focuses on feminism, starting with the ever-discussed question about women having fewer opportunities in Hollywood. Watson comes armed with percentages and statistics, and adds:
âYou hear of studio heads being like, âWe canât have a woman directing an action movie,â or just sticking to these archaic notions of what a women will and wonât be able to do. But itâs interesting, talking wonât be enough; we really need to see some direct action taken at this stage.â
This leads to a question about the ongoing talk of Hollywoodâs wage gap, which Jennifer Lawrence and Charlize Theron have been open about it, while people like Chris Rock note that itâs far worse for black actresses and we might want to start asking them about this stuff too. Watson says:
âIâm not sure who put out the wage gap [between Theron and Hemsworth on the first film] but it took a hack unfortunately, the Sony hack, for Jennifer [Lawrence] to talk about the extent to which the prejudice was there for her, [her American Hustle co-star] Amy Adams and women generally.â
Thereâs no telling how many (important) people in Hollywood share Kate Winsletâs ridiculous view that publicly addressing the pay issue is âvulgarâ (Winslet later somewhat corrected herself).
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But Watson says the idea of keeping it a secret is becoming less common. âWe are not supposed to talk about money, because people will think youâre âdifficultâ or a âdiva,ââ she says of the perception. âBut thereâs a willingness now to be like, âFine. Call me a âdivaâ, call me a âfeminaziâ, call me âdifficultâ, call me a âFirst World feministâ, call me whatever you want, itâs not going to stop me from trying to do the right thing and make sure that the right thing happens.ââ
She keenly makes sure to mention that in terms of perspective, âHollywood is just a small piece of a gigantic puzzle but itâs in the spotlight. Whether you are a woman on a tea plantation in Kenya, or a stockbroker on Wall Street, or a Hollywood actress, no one is being paid equally.â
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Later in the interview, Watson speaks about how retouched magazine covers contributed to her insecurity, particularly whenever friends would try to take photos of her.
âI realised itâs because I canât even reconcile myself with my own image on the front of these magazines,â she says. âComparing myself to how I look, when Iâve gone through all of that makeup and styling, in my normal life is⌠just⌠I canât live up to it. I was like, âHoly shit!â
She adds:
âItâs unbelievable. Switching from that to being like: âOh, I actually operate in a system thatâs fucked. Iâm not fucked, the systemâs fucked. OK.â And, ironically, itâs probably made me more beautiful and more confident as a result because Iâm not carrying that anxiety any more. I donât think itâs weird any more that I donât look like myself on the cover of a magazine.â
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Contact the author at clover@jezebel.com.
Images via Esquire