Emma Watson is one of those celebrities that is admittedly, universally loved. The automatic association with her beloved character of Hermione in the Harry Potter series makes her a love of millions, and throughout her adulthood she has continued to be both an interesting and inspirational individual, influencing many young women across the globe.
Recently, Watson was interviewed by British Vogue magazine. It was very informal, seeming more like a chat between two old friends. It was very natural and therefore, quite a pleasant and easy-going watch for its viewers. After the interview was released, titled ‘Emma Watson Talks Turning 30, Working With Meryl Streep, And Being Happily Single’, news outlets and magazines alike jumped on the comment made by Watson about her embracing singlehood.
When I first heard about this story, admittedly on my Twitter feed, I couldn’t help but think it was great. Emma Watson calling herself, ‘self-partnered’, a very liberating and ultimately independent way of viewing her relationship status in a society where relationships are forced onto many women, considered to be a necessity within womanhood.
The sense of worth that comes with being in a relationship being dismissed by a woman of such calibre was something to celebrate
The sense of worth that comes with being in a relationship being dismissed by a woman of such calibre was something to celebrate, and it is. The comment is empowering, and it’s nice to see sometimes, when women in society with such influential voices talk about the underlying problems when it comes to female expectations, especially in association with love and relationships.
Watson takes part in many activist organizations around the world…
But then, I watched the interview. I admittedly only watched the interview because I was writing this article, and with the workload I have on at the moment, 30-minute YouTube videos are a form of procrastination I should be avoiding. As I started to watch the interview, I couldn’t help but notice how important all of the things Watson was talking about were, and despite this, they had not been mentioned previously, in either any of the articles I had read online about the interview, or even the title of the video itself.
Watson takes part in many activist organizations around the world, including the HeForShe campaign ran by the United Nations, alongside continuously advocating for Climate Change, as well as fighting for education in third-world and developing countries around the world, and she spoke about this, a lot in this interview.
She also touched upon things like her mental health, the impacts fame can have on her privacy- the influences ‘trolls’ online can have on a person’s mood and so on. But at face value, to many people who didn’t have the time to watch this video in its entirety, and just saw the short article written on their social media feeds, all they would know is that Emma Watson called herself, ‘self-partnered’.
I’ve been single for two years. That’s the longest I’ve been single since I was 17. Some people ask “What’s wrong with you? You could have anyone you want.” And my response is, “I know, but I’m choosing myself.” ?? #selfpartnered
— Kendall Canole (@Kendidally) November 19, 2019
I think sometimes we find it so easy to just take in information from the internet and not question it, especially when celebrities are involved. Using this as a prime example, despite the extremely interesting and well-informed discussion Watson and the interviewer had, the media failed to acknowledge that and placed such a level of superficiality on the interview.
Singlehood and female independence is something that should be celebrated, and the embracing of it by Emma Watson is great, but I can’t help but wonder if her aim with that 30 minute long interview was to establish to audiences that she was single, when she discussed some very informative and important subjects.
Being minimized to her relationship status (and her age) is such a superficial view of womanhood
Being minimized to her relationship status (and her age) is such a superficial view of womanhood in the world of celebrities. Sometimes I think we just need to remember, that everything we see in the media is not always how it seems.
Jess Smith
Featured image courtesy of Tatiana T via Flickr. Image license found here. No changes were made to this image.
In article image courtesy of @Kendidally via Twitter. No changes were made to this image.
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