TERFs Are Beefing With Emma Watson, Claiming She Doesn’t Support Women
A tweet quoting Emma Watson's 2014 #HeForShe speech has angered TERFs because she said gender isn't binary.
TERFs online are beefing with Emma Watson after a 2014 quote in which she stated support for trans people and their rights went viral.
— Content warning: This article discusses transphobia and transmisogyny. —
Here at Junkee, we believe in calling out TERFs, AKA Trans Exclusionary Radical Feminists. Don’t let the feminist part fool you though, the acronym refers to transphobes who disguise their hatred for trans people as feminist concern for the status of women.
TERFs have little to no regard or respect for people who don’t align with their narrow view of feminism, including women. The latest target? TERFs are decrying UN Ambassador and known feminist celebrity Emma Watson for betraying women after the National Organisation for Women (NOW) tweeted an old quote of Watson’s.
“It is time that we all see gender as a spectrum instead of two sets of opposing ideals. We should stop defining each other by what we are not and start defining ourselves by who we are,” the NOW tweet read.
“It is time that we all see gender as a spectrum instead of two sets of opposing ideals. We should stop defining each other by what we are not and start defining ourselves by who we are.” – Emma Watson
— National NOW (@NationalNOW) September 16, 2022
The quote, which was originally from Watson’s 2014 #HeForShe campaign address to the UN, deeply angered TERFs. In replies beneath the Tweet, many claimed that Watson has no grasp of gender. One major account that has since been deleted even called her a “treacherous brat.”
This ironic turn on Emma Watson began in the wake of TERFs flooding Twitter with the hashtag #LetWomenSpeak. The hashtag was popularised by JK Rowling, as a response to a Trans Exclusionary Feminist gathering event in Brighton last week where pro-trans protestors were also in attendance.
With the irony totally lost on them, TERFs on Twitter began using the hashtag to tell Emma Watson to… shut up. Despite the hashtag being popularised by known billionaire JK Rowling, the TERFs criticised Watson’s comments for being rich, out of touch and “a woman who made a lot of money pretending to be a witch”.
Emma Watson has stated her support for trans rights many times over the past decade. Watson is also a patron of UK trans rights charities, including Mermaids and Mama Cash.