Actress Emma Watson, an outspoken Hollywood feminist, does not like to describe herself a “single” as she nears her 30th birthday, but, rather, as “self-partnered.”
“I’m very happy being single,” the “Harry Potter” actress told British Vogue during a recent in-depth interview. “I call it being self-partnered.”
Watson told the magazine that she’s feeling stressed and anxious about the big three-zero, which she’ll be celebrating in April.
“I was like, ‘Why does everyone make such a big fuss about turning 30? This is not a big deal … ‘ Cut to 29, and I’m like, ‘Oh my God, I feel so stressed and anxious,” Watson admitted. “And I realise it’s because there is suddenly this bloody influx of subliminal messaging around. If you have not built a home, if you do not have a husband, if you do not have a baby, and you are turning 30, and you’re not in some incredibly secure, stable place in your career, or you’re still figuring things out … There’s just this incredible amount of anxiety.”
Nonetheless, the feminist says she’s happy being single, or “self-partnered.”
“I never believed the whole ‘I’m happy single’ spiel,” she said. “I was like, ‘This is totally spiel.’ It took me a long time, but I’m very happy [being single]. I call it being self-partnered.”
As noted by CNN, fellow actress Gwyneth Paltrow similarly coined a new-age Hollywoodism in 2014, when she and he musician husband Chris Martin split. Or as Paltrow called it, “consciously uncoupled.”
“We are parents first and foremost, to two incredibly wonderful children and we ask for their and our space and privacy to be respected at this difficult time,” a statement from the couple said at the time. “We have always conducted our relationship privately, and we hope that as we consciously uncouple and co-parent, we will be able to continue in the same manner.”
According to Paltrow, the new term was intended to make the split easier on her children by apparently skipping the part of divorce where parents are constantly fighting and at-odds.
“I just thought, ‘I wonder if there’s a way to circumvent that and just go directly to the point where we’re friends’ and we remember what we loved about each other,” she said, according to CNN. “We’re family, that’s it. So we can pretend we’re not and hate each other and drop a kid at the end of the driveway and not come in or let’s try to reinvent this for ourselves.”
Watson, a Brown University graduate, has been a vocal supporter of “Time’s Up,” an anti-sexual harassment Hollywood-sparked movement which is was born in the aftermath of the #MeToo movement.
Last year, flexing her feminist bona fides, the actress showed off a tattoo honoring the movement. Only, the tattoo had a glaring error; instead of reading “Time’s Up,” the ink spelled out “Times Up,” notably missing the apostrophe.
Emma Watson debuts new tattoo… with a glaring error https://t.co/IcZ1385WqA
— Sky News (@SkyNews) March 5, 2018
Moreover, as noted by InStyle magazine, Watson brought a women’s rights activist to the Golden Globes last year.
“When Michelle Williams spearheaded the idea of actresses bringing activists on the red carpet, my first thought was it would be so great to do it with Marai,” the actress told E! Ryan Seacrest.
“Personally, the chance to bring Marai onto the carpet with me, she has so much wisdom. So much power. So much knowledge. I’ve learned so much from her about being an intersectional feminist. About Black feminism. I’ve loved working with Imkaan, which is the organization that she is the executive director of,” she told InStyle. “And just seeing so many other women standing together in solidarity and unity tonight, like this is an inflection point. This is a moment in history. This feels like, I don’t know, I’ve never been more honored to stand on a red carpet. I really feel that way.”
“I think that was a really big moment for me, was realizing that actually, our differences were empowering,” Watson added. “And that this was a way to empower ourselves. Was to define ourselves. To understand how our experiences are different. But that that is also this commonality. And it’s meant a lot to me to be able to share my personal experiences with Marai and to share with you too.”