Image: David Shankbone Ah nostalgia. Remember when women were women and men were men and everyone was just bloody classy and lived in moderation but also smoked and drank cocktails from noon and lived in the countryside and left their doors open and the ladies were real ladies with curves and wore knickers, not that anyone would upskirt them. Gosh it all just sounds a bit lovely. Why did we ever start addressing things such as abuse and rape? It just rocks the lovely, lovely boat. Of course some people just can't shh and don't use the internet and media properly. The internet is for cats, memes comparing women's body shape fashions, sharing stolen images of nude women and unsolicited criticism. We know this, Emma Watson knows this. Or do we...
OK, it's possible that bits of 'the old days' were good and some were rubbish for women and children. Had they been so very lovely then we wouldn't be seeing actions such as Operation Yewtree take place. However we also need to acknowledge that the present is not particularly sorted when it comes to equality and safety to speak out.
Recently Hermione Granger spoke out as her alter-ego Emma Watson - UN Goodwill Ambassador to join the ever expanding number of celebrity feminists. The UN Goodwill Ambassador delivered a speech at the UN Headquarters in New York that addressed gender discrimination and the harm it does to both men and women. In her speech Watson invited men to become active in fighting for equality.
Speaking of her feminism Watson said: "I decided I was a feminist and this seemed uncomplicated to me. But my recent research has shown me that feminism has become an unpopular word. Apparently I am among the ranks of women whose expressions are seen as too strong, too aggressive, isolating, anti-men and, unattractive.
Recently Hermione Granger spoke out as her alter-ego Emma Watson - UN Goodwill Ambassador to join the ever expanding number of celebrity feminists. The UN Goodwill Ambassador delivered a speech at the UN Headquarters in New York that addressed gender discrimination and the harm it does to both men and women. In her speech Watson invited men to become active in fighting for equality.
Speaking of her feminism Watson said: "I decided I was a feminist and this seemed uncomplicated to me. But my recent research has shown me that feminism has become an unpopular word. Apparently I am among the ranks of women whose expressions are seen as too strong, too aggressive, isolating, anti-men and, unattractive.
| "Why is the word such an uncomfortable one? I am from Britain and think it is right that as a woman I am paid the same as my male counterparts. I think it is right that I should be able to make decisions about my own body. I think it is right that women be involved on my behalf in the policies and decision-making of my country. I think it is right that socially I am afforded the same respect as men. But sadly I can say that there is no one country in the world where all women can expect to receive these rights." | I'm not saying I wasn't fooled, I wasn't paying much attention to it. Because who does, until the actual naked photos are cracked out. We are growing desensitised to such stunts on the internet. |
Watson received huge support and applause for this stance, which is good. It's great, it's fantastic to see feminism gaining such momentum and celebrities increasingly seeming to want to express a more involved and intelligent side to themselves.
And of course there was the inevitable disagreements, threats and trollery. However one set of people seemed rather more organised then the usual forum of frenzied hatred for women. A site was set up called emmawatsonyouarenext.com with a fun countdown to the release of her nude images. When the countdown reached zero however we did not see the full Watson but a new marketing site aimed at shutting down 4chan.
The page says: "None of these women deserve this...Join us as we shutdown 4chan and prevent more pictures from being leaked." The site has helpfully put together numbers on how it's fake campaign of threats was received. Apparently emmayouarenext.com got 48 million visitors, 7 million Facebook shares and likes, and 3 million Twitter mentions.
I'm not saying I wasn't fooled, I wasn't paying much attention to it. Because who does, until the actual naked photos are cracked out. We are growing desensitised to such stunts on the internet. Therefore we don't need a group of feminists or marketing people to fake such a thing because we are aware of it.
So thanks to this site's stats we can now all be confident that there are a lot of people out there who dislike Emma Watson and/or feminism and a lot of people out there who want to see a young woman nude - with or without her permission. But I think we knew that without the hoax. What are you going to do about it?
Squeamish Kate
And of course there was the inevitable disagreements, threats and trollery. However one set of people seemed rather more organised then the usual forum of frenzied hatred for women. A site was set up called emmawatsonyouarenext.com with a fun countdown to the release of her nude images. When the countdown reached zero however we did not see the full Watson but a new marketing site aimed at shutting down 4chan.
The page says: "None of these women deserve this...Join us as we shutdown 4chan and prevent more pictures from being leaked." The site has helpfully put together numbers on how it's fake campaign of threats was received. Apparently emmayouarenext.com got 48 million visitors, 7 million Facebook shares and likes, and 3 million Twitter mentions.
I'm not saying I wasn't fooled, I wasn't paying much attention to it. Because who does, until the actual naked photos are cracked out. We are growing desensitised to such stunts on the internet. Therefore we don't need a group of feminists or marketing people to fake such a thing because we are aware of it.
So thanks to this site's stats we can now all be confident that there are a lot of people out there who dislike Emma Watson and/or feminism and a lot of people out there who want to see a young woman nude - with or without her permission. But I think we knew that without the hoax. What are you going to do about it?
Squeamish Kate
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