Emma Watson Defends Posing Nearly Topless for Vanity Fair: I Don't Know What My Tits Have to Do With Feminism

Emma Watson is addressing the controversy surrounding a Vanity Fair photo shoot in which she posed with her breasts partially exposed.

Sitting down with Reuters, the Beauty and the Beast star and gender equality activist hit back at critics who believe the photo undermines her feminist ideals. "It just always reveals to me how many misconceptions and what a misunderstanding there is about what feminism is," Watson admitted.

The 26-year-old, who launched the #HeForShe campaign dedicated to enlisting men in the fight for women's rights, continued, "Feminism is about giving women choice. Feminism is not a stick with which to beat other women with. It's about freedom, it's about liberation, it's about equality. I really don't know what my tits have to do with it. It's very confusing."

The photograph in question features the actress in a cropped, crochet bolero jacket without anything underneath. Once published inside the magazine's March 2017 issue, it didn't take long for internet naysayers to point out what they dubbed was a hypocritical decision on Emma's part.

In her interview with Reuters, Watson added, "I'm confused. Most people are confused. No, I'm just always just quietly stunned."

For her Vanity Fair cover story, Emma addressed the ups and downs of embarking on a career in the public eye. "I've been doing this since I was 10 or 11, and I've often thought, 'I'm so wrong for this job because I'm too serious; I'm a pain in the ass; I'm difficult; I don't fit,'" the UN Women Goodwill Ambassador said.
"But as I've got older, I've realized, 'No! Taking on those battles, the smaller ones and the bigger ones, is who I am,'" she explained.