Emma Watson can be a feminist and bare her body if she wants to

Emma Watson has always been considered a feminist icon. Be it her He For She Campaign for the United Nations or the feminist Goodreads book club--she is one actress who has been vocal about equal rights.

However, the Beauty And The Beast actress recently received a lot of flak online for posing for the Vanity Fair magazine. The 26-year-old actress wore a white crocheted Burberry stole that revealed the curvature of her breasts. And honestly, she looked gorgeous.

 

A post shared by Vanity Fair (@vanityfair) on Feb 28, 2017 at 10:02am PST

People on social media platforms were quick to jump the gun and invalidate her feminism just because she wore something that was revealing. In an interview with the BBC, Emma hit out at her critics and said that her choice to pose topless did not undermine her feminism.

 "Feminism is not a stick with which to beat other women. It's about freedom, it's about liberation, it's about equality. I really don't know what my t**ts have to do with it. It's very confusing," she explained.

Talking about the criticism, she added, "Most people are confused. I'm always just kind of quietly stunned.  They were saying that I couldn't be a feminist  and have boobs." Truth be told Emma, we are confused too.

.@EmmaWatson on the controversy over her almost topless @VanityFair cover shoot. https://t.co/9kNDAV90w6 pic.twitter.com/Bc2b5JuVHE

- BBC News (World) (@BBCWorld) March 5, 2017

The thing is a woman can wear whatever the f**k she wants, without being judged for it. She shouldn't be asked to hand over her "feminist card" for some unseemly display of nudity. Just because a woman advocates equality and fights for it, doesn't mean she needs to keep herself covered from head to toe.

Emma can be a feminist icon and object of desire at the same time. The two things are not related to each other. What the critics and the so called guardians women's modesty need to understand that a feminist can keep herself covered and fight for the rights, or can bare it all and still fight for rights.

What we don't understand is why people have to equate everything to feminism. Here's to hoping that these critics will actually get their facts right about what the F word actually means.