Fashion Icon of the Fortnight: EMMA WATSON

If you have read any of my 'FIOTF's in the past, you'll realise that I focus a lot on personality and actions than I do fashion; and that's exactly what I'm doing this week.

Pushing fashion aside for a second, I wanted to name Emma Watson, not only my Fashion Icon of the Fortnight, but my Icon of the year; she has portrayed herself as the brilliant role model she is, and I just wanted to raise awareness of some of the great things she has done.

If you haven't seen Emma on the news recently, a video of her has been travelling virally at a fast pace featuring her talking about gender equality and the rights of women. Not only just she state the points that every feminist tries to fathom but cannot seem to direct clearly, she stated her opinion on the role of women and how they should be treated; in regard to pay, work and even their own sexual wellbeing and consent. I feel like myself, I am a feminist, as well as many other things, as I believe in equality for all, just not between men and women; and Emma clearly states that she believes that everybody should have a choice to live, and how they want to do it, without being dictated by a certain gender. 

The greatest part of Emma's speech was her mention of the portrayal of feminism and how even females are too afraid to call themselves feminist because they're afraid of being labelled up-front, demanding and anti-male, which has no link to feminism at all. Many people see the independence of women a threat, which I think is the most backwards outlook on what Emma, and many others are trying to raise awareness of. For centuries, women have been the inferior, and with times changing, why can't women be treated the same as a man, all around the world, not just in these large countries that seem to see change as a threat?

Emma words her speech perfectly, and I think that every person, not just the segregation of a male or female, should watch her video and realise what the true outcome of gender equality is, without seeing it as a threat. 

It wasn't only this speech that makes Emma such a great role model. One of the few that have been shot to fame as a child and managed to compose themselves through the transition in to adult life, Emma clearly shows young people how to behave and treat life, no matter what is thrown at you, and to not take everything for granted. Many child stars drop out of school, pursue their career in the industry and live off their wages for the rest of their life until they file for bankruptcy at the age of 25 for spending all their money (this is completely stereotypical and was supposed to be humorous to emphasise the greatness of Emma, I don't mean to produce offence), Emma created her own contingency plan in case her career was not going to carry her far, although I'd say being one of the leads in a major blockbuster series is quite the achievement, let alone all the other pieces of work she has carried out. She decided to make sure that she had the education to fall back on to in case her lifestyle was to change dramatically, meaning that she graduated from Browns University with a degree in English Literature. When I heard about this it fascinated me that she had the time to carry out such a task as well as acting in many blockbusters including the last instalment of the Harry Potter series as well as Perks of Being a Wallflower and The Bling Ring.

We can see that, from two factors of greatness that Emma Watson is such a great person and role model in general, not forgetting the charity work that she has done in the past. She has visited places such as Zambia and Bangladesh promoting the Education for Girls campaign, that is raising awareness to get girls in poorer areas of the world to be able to attend school and gain the same education that boys receive. This saves them from a lot of turmoil in the future, keeping them stuck in these poverty-struck areas, looking after children, taking care of the house and wallowing in these poor conditions. As well as this, July this year [2014] she was named UN Women Goodwill Ambassador, linking back to the speech she gave above as well as the campaign she has recently launched, tackling the gender equality crisis cleverly named HeforShe. This is spreading the word that men should equally be involved in ensuring equality for women than women should be, with the likes of popular YouTuber, Jim Chapman, and One Direction's, Harry Styles, recently posting their support of Emma's campaign. 

So, as you can see, Emma is a worthy winner of my FITOF award, even without mentioning how gorgeous she is and her amazing sophisticated style she always seems to have. If you want to watch Emma's speech, here's the video, and I hope that you enjoyed this post and are now ready to go off in to the world and spread how  beautiful of a person Emma truly is. 

Just to add, whats a FIOTF post without a quick "how-to" guide on their style?! So, here's a quick Emma Watson-style list of how to be as great as her;

❀ Stand up for what you believe in - It is important that you follow your own destiny, not anyone else's. Don't let others choose for you and don't become subservient to your own life, it will make your goals more easily achievable if you understand what is right, what is wrong, and what you should believe in.

❀ Listen - Emma has listened and learnt from so many people in order to have such a great perspective on everything. The key to making sure that you are successful is listening to gain knowledge. The more you listen, the more you know; and the more you know, the more you can decipher between the right and wrong and be able to create your own verdict.

❀ Work hard - the more you work, the more you earn; if you want to be able to make a difference, make a change, make a name, you need to work hard and fight for what you believe in. Listen to gain knowledge, stand up for what you believe in, and you can achieve anything.

Credit to:

laineygossip.com

youtube.com

fanpop.com
For photos and information

Question of the Day: What's your favourite film featuring Emma Watson?