Emma Watson is taking a year off to read & learn more about feminism

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I’ll say it: I rolled my eyes when I first read the headline “Emma Watson Announces Year-Long Break From Acting to Focus on Feminism and ‘Personal Development’.” We should all be so lucky, right? To have the time and means to “take a year off” to read about feminism – what a luxury. What (a) privilege. But the thing about it is… I read Emma Watson’s conversation with bell hooks in the new issue of Paper Magazine, and I’m actually feeling it a little bit. Feminist writer/scholar bell hooks made me a believer. If you have the time, you should read the full Paper Mag piece here, because it’s a good read, although it’s not controversial or scandalous at all, except for when hooks notably calls out the Harry Potter franchise for making Hermione placed “in the service of boy power.” Watson and hooks talk about feminism and Emma’s new feminist book club. Here’s the part where Emma talks about taking a year off:

Watson: I’m reading so much and exposing myself to so many new ideas. It almost feels like the chemistry and the structure of my brain is changing so rapidly sometimes. It feels as if sometimes I’m struggling to keep up with myself. It’s a really cool period of time for me. My work that I do for the UN is all very clearly outlined, but my personal views and opinions are still being defined, really. So it’ll be an interesting time.

hooks: As part of your efforts for activism and for self-growth, you’re taking a year away from acting. That’s a big decision.

Watson: I’m taking a year away from acting to focus on two things, really. My own personal development is one. I know that you read a book a day. My own personal task is to read a book a week, and also to read a book a month as part of my book club. I’m doing a huge amount of reading and study just on my own. I almost thought about going and doing a year of gender studies, then I realized that I was learning so much by being on the ground and just speaking with people and doing my reading. That I was learning so much on my own. I actually wanted to keep on the path that I’m on. I’m reading a lot this year, and I want to do a lot of listening.

hooks: You’re kind of homeschooling yourself. The good thing is that studying in a more institutionalized way — you’re not foreclosing that. You have time. And now, you can reach out to people like Gloria Steinem and bell hooks.

Watson: It’s been amazing. I’ve been doing a lot of that. I want to listen to as many different women in the world as I can. That’s something that I’ve been doing on my own, through the UN, the HeForShe campaign, and my work generally. This January, our HeForShe IMPACT champions are ten CEOs who for the first time will be releasing to the media what their companies look like internally. So how many CEOs are male or female, the gender wage gap. We’ll be making all of these statements completely transparent, which is huge. It’s never been done before. So big companies like Vodafone, Unilever and Tupperware will be standing up to the media and really acknowledging the issues within their own companies and talking about how they are planning to address these issues as HeForShe IMPACT champions. I’m very interested and excited to see how that works out. I’ll also take another field trip in the next two or three months. We are organizing a HeForShe arts week, a university tour, and launching the HeForShe website. It’s a lot. There’s a lot to do.

[From Paper Magazine]

Basically, Emma’s not just taking a year off to read. She’s taking a year off to read and do more work with HeForShe and to give herself a crash-course in feminist theory. I took some great classes on feminist theory in college, and I wonder if Emma might benefit from that kind of structure during her year off. But she tells hooks that she’s more focused on DIY-feminism and learning about it through her own process. Eh, good for her. At the end of the day, I don’t hate this.

emma paper

Photos courtesy of Paper Magazine, WENN.

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54 Responses to “Emma Watson is taking a year off to read & learn more about feminism”

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  1. CornyBlue says:

    She really really should read up on intersectionality. good for her.. I would study all my life if i had resources to.

    • Brea says:

      Yeah I thought the same thing: let’s hope she reads extensively about intersectionality. I love when people make an effort to educate themselves, and she has the means and the time to, so why not?

  2. aims says:

    I’m all for self improvement and education. I love this idea.

  3. Lucy says:

    Now this is something I believe to be true. There’s a reason she’s known as The Brightest Witch of Her Age. Go Emma!

  4. Mia4s says:

    I think the idea is lovely, but, I cannot help but notice that her two most recent movies barely got a release (and had very poor reviews) and her next “big” movie is Beauty and the Beast which is out…in a year.

    My point is I doubt that the offers are as interesting or plentiful as they once were so I imagine a year off is not that huge a sacrifice.

  5. Bettyrose says:

    Can’t hate on this. I took several months “off”at her age to attend a summer program and live in a student co-op that was super cheap in summer. I had saved up a little living with family after college and lived a very cheap existence while “finding myself.” I took summer seminars in everything from advertising theory to beatnik writers to Arabic. It was amazing.

  6. mkyarwood says:

    Sometimes, I dream I run away to become a Bhuddist nun, shave my head and spend the rest of my life reading, learning the zen of simple tasks and devoting my life to the service of others. I can understand what she’s on about.

    • I Choose Me says:

      Co-sign. Except for the becoming a nun part. I’d like to read more extensively and travel the world. There’s so much to learn, so much to discover about myself and the world we live in.

    • Tara says:

      My favorite zen tasks are condensing ketchup bottles, filling jelly baskets, and cutting library slips.

  7. Locke Lamora says:

    I don’t think Hermione was placed in the service of boy power at all.

    • Bettyrose says:

      ITA. Hermione was a badass. It’s a tad cliche that she was brainy and annoying (in the first book) but she really grows into her own. FFS she punches Draco.

    • Sixer says:

      Hermione battled all the inequalities. Especially the patriarchy.

      I think the Harry Potter books are pretty rubbish, to be frank, but I except Hermione from that mean-minded judgement.

      • Locke Lamora says:

        Sixer, I usually agree with your opinions, but this is sacrilege. You should say 10 Hail Marys or something.

      • Sixer says:

        I knew you would say that! Sorry. Bear in mind that I am an editor of (usually YA) fiction by trade, so I get sidetracked by technical issues. Those books are full of all the no-nos: hackneyed dialogue tags, infodumping expostion, repetition, etc. Technically speaking, Rowling is not a good writer. But I do understand the appeal, especially to the fan of fantasy worldbuilding.

      • Bettyrose says:

        Sixer, you edit YA? #jealous. I love YA lit. I read the first Harry Potter before lit was a series, and I liked it from the perspective of it being clever, visually stimulating, with a strong enough vocabulary to have educational merit to 10 year olds…and it’s the anti-Narnia. I struggled with Narnia as a kid because the religious indoctrination was so contrary to what my parents taught me. So, yeah, even as a bookish 8 year old, I had strong opinions on the Narnia series (but I still finished the whole series).

      • Sixer says:

        I edit anything by anyone who pays me! But my favourite work is YA, so I do as much as I can. I also like reading YA and even the most literary middle grade books and have done all my life. There are gems in both that exceed 90% of adult fiction, if you ask me.

        See now, I like Narnia because the writing is so good (technically). I think the better antidote to the religious basis of Narnia is His Dark Materials (also well written technically). Give the kids both and let them make up their own minds.

        I think the actual genius in Potter is the appeal to the magpie collector in kids. Plus, it arrived in conjunction with the interwebz, which also lends itself to completist fandoms, you know? Also, the first couple were better than the bloated later books, at which point I think the entire editorial staff at Bloomsbury were too intimidated to make any corrections!

      • Katenotkatie says:

        I grew up on Potter, but I totally agree with Sixer re: His Dark Materials- Pullman is INCREDIBLE. That series is absolutely brilliant, and reveals more and more the older you get. I read them first when I was about 11, and I sensed that I had just come into contact with something very profound, but I didn’t fully understand it yet. Re-reading HDM as an adult is such a pleasure- I can’t wait to share them with nieces/nephews/my own little ones (if they become a reality!).

      • Tara says:

        Moomintrolls forever!

    • raincoaster says:

      She was, though, and this video will make you realize just how much.

      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JXWBuoYc8SI

  8. Sixer says:

    Ha. Guess what I am re-reading RIGHT NOW. Ain’t I A Woman. Serendipity! I mentioned it on a Meryl thread hereabouts a couple of weeks ago, and having been paying attention to all the various comment threads here too, felt inspired to go back and re-read some of the classic contributions. It’s on Kindle, folks.

  9. vauvert says:

    Good for her! It really is good to read about a celeb actually immersing herself in study, regardless of how she does it, and her UN. We need more like her.

  10. Esther says:

    Translation: She does not have any roles. She is far behind many actresses her age and her last two movies were flops, critically and at the BO.

    Seriously, cant she read while shooting? its not like nobody reads when they have a job.

    • CornyBlue says:

      She does have Beauty and the Beast coming out with Disney so…..
      Also if what you say is true is it not better she goes away and studies something she can contribute in and has a lot to learn in than have like countless pap walks and hang around in thousands of those LA parties ?

    • OhDear says:

      That was my thought as well! Her last movie didn’t do so well, though Beauty and the Beast should help her career. It’s a perfect PR reason.

      IMO, I don’t get why people are patting her on the back for this. She should have taken a year off for this before taking on the UN role, because the more she says the clearer it is that she really had no idea what she was getting into. It’s clear that she wasn’t involved in feminist organizations/studies at all when she was at Brown – how did she not know who bell hooks is?! But better late than never, I guess?

      • lucy2 says:

        But I think that’s what this is – she realized she has a lot still to learn, and is going to take the time to do so. I’d imagine the UN work has taught her a lot already, and opened her eyes to much she didn’t know, so now she’s working on it. She went into that right after college, there’s definitely a learning curve with most things at that age.

      • OhDear says:

        But there are a good number of young people in the business – teenagers, even, who aren’t old enough to go to college yet – (Rowan Blanchard, Amanda Stenberg, for example) who know more about feminism than Watson does. It’s not an excuse for her to not know anything about the issue behind her *UN Special Ambassador* position just because she was a child actor and/or that she’s “young.” That’s great that she wants to learn, but then she shouldn’t have accepted such a high profile position if she knew nothing.

  11. Lin says:

    yeah she needs it. And bell hooks too. Her “you’re not a feminist cos you’re not modest enough” thing made me jump off her train. She came after Beyoncé. I hate it when white women think they can police black women’s choices. Not even black women should too

    • I Choose Me says:

      Can’t stand the you can’t be a feminist ’cause of how you dress mindset. Or you can’t be a feminist because you happen to like ‘traditional’ gendered roles like cooking, homemaking and child rearing. If you believe in and support equal rights between the sexes then I consider you a feminist whether you call yourself one or not.

      • Otaku fairy says:

        +1. People who say ignorant things like that are part of the reason why confusion about what it means to be a feminist exists and don’t seem to realize that their argument is antifeminist all by itself.

    • Tara says:

      Bell Hooks is black isn’t she?

      • Sixer says:

        Yes. bell hooks was one of the early writers on intersectionality. See her major work Ain’t I A Woman I referenced above.

        She’s recently taken the line that Beyonce dresses to a male standard of beauty/sexuality and this is not feminist. The line Otaku fairy spends a lot of time carefully refuting in these ‘ere parts. hook’s position is that the virgin/whore dichotomy placed upon women by men is racialised in the US so that white women are the virgins and black women are the whores. For hook, this is a consequence of the time of slavery. Hence her taking this line.

        I agree with Otaku, but I do think bell hooks has more than earned the right to speak, be wrong, and still be heard. I feel much the same about Germaine Greer, with whom I disagree about trans issues. The conversation has moved on from the 70s and 80s when hook and Greer were first writing, but I think the respect of a hearing is due to the elders of the movements, you know? It’s not as though we have to agree.

      • Otaku fairy says:

        I wasn’t only thinking of bell hooks when I said that, but Emma Watson and people in general who echo that belief (it’s a pretty common trope). I’m definitely not someone who thinks people like bell hooks, Gloria Steinem, or Susan Brownmiller should be shunned as feminists because of the few times they’ve been problematic, but I also think it’s okay to criticize those things too.

      • Sixer says:

        Otakua – I hope I didn’t come off as critical of you: I was intending to be complimentary! Apologies!

    • Abbess Tansy says:

      With you all the way on this and as much as I love ms. hooks I was a little disappointed about the negative comments on Beyonce’s attire. I may not like it but she has the right to wear her costumes etc. in her purview as an artist. As far as Emma Watson goes more power to her but I don’t see her opening up to intersectionality at all. She comes across to me as a bit narrowminded and uncomfortable outside of her comfort zone which might be an unfair assumption on my part. Time will tell.

  12. Amelie says:

    Kudos to this young woman. Apparently,she understands-at a young age-how important feminist issues are. And because Gloria Steinem was mentioned in the interview, I would like to share that there is a new effort to pass an Equal Rights Amendment by Gloria Steinem and others…there is a website called http://www.eracoalition.org. that has additional information.

  13. TrixC says:

    Surprised by the element of negativity here. She’s super rich from the HP films, enough that she probably never has to work again in her life if she doesn’t want to, and there’s a million worse ways she could choose to spend a year than this.

  14. The Eternal Side-Eye says:

    I’m torn.

    On the one hand I’m a big fan of scholarly study and educating yourself (and yes if I had the time/money I’d probably be taking a few college classes here and there).

    On the other there’s something strange about this idea that there is some exhaustive effort that needs to go into being fair. Being fair SHOULD be instinctive. If a dog watches you mistreat another dog no one has to teach him it is wrong. One with eyes and a basic college education should be able to read and look at their environment to pad what they learn academically.

    But I also don’t want to knock someone for at least trying even if the whole thing does come off a bit Eat-Pray-Love. I don’t know, good luck to Ms. Watson for trying to do with maximum effort what many of us did through limited resources.

    • Amelie says:

      The Eternal Side-Eye said:
      “On the other there’s something strange about this idea that there is some exhaustive effort that needs to go into being fair. Being fair SHOULD be instinctive.”

      I am trying to get a handle on what you mean here. If by ‘being fair’ you are referring to feminism, I would suggest the following…A lot of work was done in the past (’60’s. 70’s) re: feminist issues (ie equal rights, equal pay etc) and it’s clear to many of us older gals, that there is a gap in both awareness of feminist issues + dedication to finishing the work that needs to be done among younger women. I would suggest that includes at least 30 and younger. So, for those younger women, there is definitely a need to study the issues.

      And, to respond to those posters who question Emma’s taking a year off, in the days when I was her age and just graduated from college, it was common to take time off. Many young people bought a backpack and a EURAIL PASS and set off for Europe. Some stayed a few months, some a year and moi stayed for two years. Most of us, lived on the cheap in youth hostels and worked odd jobs, but it was a time devoted to exploration not unlike what Emma is doing.

  15. Eleonor says:

    Her latest movies weren’t that great, she is rich as hell and she doesn’t need to work, if she wants to take a year off and she wants to improve herself as a person and give something back, instead of partying in LA, well she has my appreciation.

  16. emma says:

    get it, girl

  17. taxi says:

    Yes, she could choose never to work again. If she wants to take time off and study anything she missed during the Potter years, more power to her.
    On a frivolous note, I want that coat!!!

  18. WinonaRyder says:

    She should invest in acting lessons too.

  19. AJ says:

    Um didn’t she take several years off to do this already? I thought she stopped acting to go to normal college and find herself? Is that not also when you read and go through personal development? And I don’t understand why acting, of all things/jobs, would prevent one from reading.

    • lucy2 says:

      She graduated college with a degree in English literature.
      Given that much of her childhood was spent on film sets, and she worked throughout her college years too, I can see how her timing and experiences might be different than most people’s.

    • Lex says:

      Yeah silly Emma forgot you’re only allowed to find yourself during University as a late teenager/early twenty year old. What is she thinking?!?!?

      Yeah, no. You are well jel.

  20. Nori says:

    Not a great actor but she’s intelligent and thoughtful. It’s true that self-guided reading can teach you more than a structured course can sometimes.

  21. serena says:

    Good for her, it is a good thing to take some time off to inform yourself about things that matters (to you and the world). So what’s wrong with the statement ‘taking a year off to read’? Of course she can do that because she is privileged, but so what? At least she’s doing something useful and not spouting bs all day -looking at you Meryl Streep.

  22. anon says:

    Who cares.

  23. familard says:

    Code for rehab.

  24. Lillylizard says:

    Good for her , she may have found her true calling, she seems a bit unlikely as a future force to be reckoned with but who would ever have imagined that Angelina Jolie would become such a commanding influential woman on the world stage a few years back.

  25. ABE says:

    can’t land a role

    she’s boring and vanilla

  26. Miss Thang says:

    Is there a term for women who think not that men and women were created equal but that the natural qualities (strengths and areas of expertise that come naturally to each gender) imbued upon them create differences that put women above men? Feminism seems to be focused on putting women in roles that are traditionally men’s roles (which I think are below women) and then insisting that they are treated the exact same way men are treated. The way the word feminism is used doesn’t seem to fit the way I would like to see it defined. Is there a word for this or am I getting it all wrong?