It’s Beyond Pathetic That Men Are Trying To Silence Emma Watson By Leaking Her Nudes
Over the weekend, Emma Watson gave an inspirational speech at the United Nations, calling on men to join the feminist cause. Video of her speech quickly went viral, because it was awesome (and probably also because it featured Hermione Granger), and by Monday night it had reached nearly every corner of the Internet. Unfortunately, that included the Internet’s most famous cesspool, 4chan, who responded in prime cesspool fashion by threatening to leak stolen nude photographs of Watson. Because nothing says “Your speech about feminism was stupid and unnecessary” like trying to silence women with the threat of leaked nudes!
The disgusting slice of sub-humanity that operates out of 4chan has made a countdown clock at the URL emmayouarenext.com, which is apparently counting down to the public posting of Watson’s nudes (if any such photographs actually exist). At the same time, 4chan’s users have taken to Twitter in an attempt to get the hashtag #RIPEmmaWatson to trend, and have gone so far as to create images of fake news reporting of Watson’s imaginary death from sites like CNN and Fox.
4chan’s attempts to silence a brave young woman for daring to voice her opinion only go to show just how wrong they are when they scream that feminism is dumb and call Watson a bitch (at best) for speaking out in its favor. Sadly, we still live in a world where a woman’s radical notion that she is an individual worthy of equal pay, equal say in government, and autonomy over her own body means that she needs to be punished. And what a gendered punishment, too. Act like you’re aware that you’re a human being and not just walking, talking wank fodder, and the Internet will swiftly arrive to remind you that you’re only a piece of super-sexualized meat as far as they’re concerned.
All of this is cruel, vile, and obviously meant to make other women think twice before they step out of line by thinking they might like to walk down the street without being catcalled or be paid the same amount as their male colleagues. But it amounts to a pathetic attempt on 4chan’s part to put the toothpaste of progress back in the tube of tradition. Yes, there are setbacks every day (like this one), and we can’t rest on our laurels. But the momentum is forward, and we won’t be put off by calculated campaigns to silence us: the wheels of feminism are turning and they won’t be so easily stopped as this. And I for one am looking forward to the day that 4chan and every other wretched hive of scum and villainy like it are crushed under those wheels.
(Image: Twitter)
