Sunday was International Women’s Day, and the United Nations’ HeForShe goodwill ambassador Emma Watson did a live Facebook Q&A to celebrate. Emma went viral last year when she made her first speech at the UN, discussing feminism, equality and why men should proudly proclaim they are feminists as well. I was surprised by the reaction to Emma’s speech, because she really didn’t say anything groundbreaking. I suppose it was “new” to a generation that grew up alongside Emma though.

Anyway, after Emma’s speech went viral, Emma got some really awful threats and comments from “men’s rights activists”. There was even the “threat” to release nude photos of Emma… because she talked about feminism or something. That site threatening to release the photos ended up being a hoax or some kind of advertising for something else, although let’s be honest: there were lots of men’s rights activists who were truly pissed off at her. In her Facebook chat, Emma spoke about the situation:

On the backlash to her speech: “There was a website set up that was threatening to release naked images of me, with like a countdown and whatever else. I knew it was a hoax. I knew the pictures didn’t exist.”

Whether that moment was evidence of gender inequality: “A lot of people close to me knew gender equality was an issue but didn’t think it was that urgent. You know, ‘We live in Great Britain – this is a thing of the past. We’re fine. We’re good. We have got far enough.’ When they saw that the minute I stepped up and talked about women’s rights I was immediately threatened. I mean within less than 12 hours I was receiving threats. I think they were really shocked and one of my brothers in particular was very upset.”

Gender equality in small gestures: “I actually took a man out for dinner and I chose the restaurant and I offered to pay. It was really awkward and uncomfortable – I’m just going to say that. It was not going down well! He was just like ‘I’m not really sure about this.’ It was making him a bit tetchy. But the cool thing about it was we were both willing to have the conversation about why it was awkward and why it was uncomfortable. We were able to have the dialogue ‘It’s OK. I chose the restaurant as it is my favorite restaurant and I would love to pay. But next time you chose the restaurant and you pay.’ “

[From People]

Do you find it disingenuous that Emma talks so much about the naked-photo-hoax without acknowledging that it was in fact a hoax? I don’t, but that’s because I wouldn’t blame her at all for not keeping up with that story and how it all turned out to be a hoax. And there were days when no one knew if it was a hoax and it just seemed like so many “men’s rights activists” were legitimately pissed. As for Emma’s attempt at going dutch or outright paying for a date… is that really still a thing? Even when I was in college, I would still offer to pay and sometimes the dudes would take me up on it. Maybe I’ve just known really unchivalrous men in my life.

Photos courtesy of WENN.