Focus on what matters most about Emma Watson’s speech: Her outfit
On September 20th, actress and United Nations Goodwill Ambassador Emma Watson stood in front of the UN and proudly called herself a feminist. In the days that followed, she’s been threatened, insulted, and been made a pawn of a remarkably stupid hoax. Through it all, the media has lost track of what’s actually important about her UN address: How cute her outfit was. It was so, so cute.
Shortly after her speech, in which she wore an adorable off-white coat-dress, a site called EmmaYouAreNext.com appeared with an ominous countdown. The site, which claimed to be affiliated with notorious message board 4Chan, promised to release nude photos of the “Harry Potter” actress. However, when the countdown ran out, it was revealed that the site was actually the project of a company called Rantic Media, which then called on readers to help shut down 4Chan.
Ultimately, all of this is just a distraction. All that this “hoax” has done, besides cruelly humiliate Watson, is to obscure what was so revolutionary about her speech: The adorable dress with a cinched-in waist and asymmetrical geometric hemline, which she paired with a sleek center-part ponytail. This outfit makes a statement, and that statement is, “I’m a feminist. Just the cutest, cutest feminist.”
As it turns out, the nude photos of Watson probably never existed. But in a sense, it doesn’t matter whether they’re real or not. Trolls and pundits have done what they always do: Directed our focus toward a woman’s body, and away from what she wears on that body. In this case, a chic metallic belt that emphasizes her itty-bitty waist (wanna know how she got that body? She’s a certified yoga instructor!).
Emma Watson does not exist for your viewing pleasure. She deserves to be listened to, whether she’s talking about gender equality, or where she got that berry lipstick. You – each and every one of you – owe it to Emma to stop giving 4Chan and Rantic your attention. Instead, do what you should have done in the first place: Just watch her speech.
There’s a lot of blah blah blah though, so I’d watch it with the sound off.
