Emma Watson is a well-known advocate for gender equality. In 2014, she was appointed as a UN Women Goodwill Ambassador and launched the UN Women campaign, HeForShe, a call to action for men to join the conversation of gender equality. She has dedicated much of her recent life to support this cause, and she very much considers herself to be a feminist. However, she has been recently criticized for being hypocritical as she appeared in Vanity Fair magazine, exposing a fair amount of her body.

While there were many who criticized her, British radio presenter, Julia Hartley-Brewer encompassed what seemed to be the biggest concern, “Watson complains that women are sexualised and then sexualises herself in her own work. Hypocrisy.”

One problem with this argument is the idea that open sexuality is mutually exclusive with a feminist agenda. Believe it or not, it is possible for women to do both. A second issue with this argument is the misunderstanding of the root of sexualizing women. A woman does not sexually degrade herself because she allows parts of her body to be exposed in a magazine. The sexual degradation is derived from the audience or viewer who then considers it sexualized.

The best way I can explain this misunderstanding dates back to my own first encounter — that I can remember — of this problem. In middle school, we had a strict dress code. Girls couldn’t wear spaghetti strap tank tops, shorts that were above your knee, or shirts with too low of a cut. The rules that addressed the boys? They couldn’t sag their pants too low. While I know we’re all grateful for the attempt to curb that epidemic, it’s undeniable that the dress code was pretty much talking to one side and one side only — girls. The premise being that any rule breaking of this code would ultimately distract and arouse boys, causing havoc. But in this situation, the sexualizing doesn’t begin with someone choosing to wear a tank top and short shorts, it begins with people taking that action and using it to objectify women.

So when people say that Emma Watson is sexualizing herself by revealing parts of her body in Vanity Fair, what they are really doing is sexualizing Emma Watson themselves. It is with that sort of mindset that the problem continues to perpetuate itself.

The other half of this issue is the continual misunderstanding of what feminism even means. These critics are missing one of the most encompassing aspects of feminism, that women should be able to do as they please in whatever or however many different forms that may take, without the constant fear of being judged or degraded. Emma Watson proves that you can be serious about an issue and still show your sexuality. No two activities should be mutually exclusive for women if we want actual gender equality.

However, at the end of the day it’s Emma Watson who defends herself best, “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 t*** have to do with it.”

Columnist Letizia Mariani’s opposing piece can be read here.

Sam Miner can be reached at mine0034@stthomas.edu