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Emma Watson Is Starting A Feminist Book Club And We Want In


By Jennifer McShane
08th Jan 2016
Emma Watson Is Starting A Feminist Book Club And We Want In

Is there anything Emma Watson can’t do? The short answer to that would be no. The actress, advocate and ambassador revealed that her next initiative will be to start her own feminist book club.

In her latest project to bring feminism?and gender as topics of universal conversation, the?Harry Potter star?announced she is starting a feminist book group on the social media outlet, called ?Our Shared Shelf?. She?tweeted yesterday that she wanted to start the book club, with her request for suggested names for the group sparking a flurry of responses before deciding on the chosen title?with a little help from her fans.

Inspirational women coming together to share their?united love of ideas and brilliant novels and writing? Sounds like an amazing club to us.?

Name decided, Watson received a keen reception for her idea, with retired American footballer Abby Wambach, actress Sophia Bush and singer Kate Voegele all tweeting they would take part in the club. Though she remained elusive on further details, she did suggest a title for the first book, electing American feminist Gloria Steinem’s latest memoir, My Life on the Road, a collection of the author’s reflections on her life and activist projects.

The 25-year-old?has been making headlines as she?is unafraid?to stake a stand on the issues that mean the most to her, whether this comprises of?campaigning for gender equality in the industry, making powerful, rousing speeches?aiming to involve men in this discussion or taking a stance on the sustainable fashion industry. Emma Watson means serious business, and we can’t help but be vocal in our admiration for this remarkable young woman. And we’re not the only people to feel this way. Malala Yousafzai, the?Nobel Peace Prize winner and human rights and education campaigner from Pakistan, for example, publicly said that Watson was the reason for reviving her own belief in feminism.

Of?her now-famous HeForShe speech, she was encouraged not to use the word ?feminism? for fear of alienating people, but this didn’t gel well with the star, so she used it, and was praised for doing so. “I thought long and hard and ultimately felt that it was just the right thing to do. If women are terrified to use the word, how on earth are men supposed to start using it?? she said.

“The plan is to select and read a book every month, then discuss the work during the month’s last week. I will post some questions/quotes to get things started, but I would love for this to grow into an open discussion with and between you all. Whenever possible I hope to have the author, or another prominent voice on the subject.?If you fancy it, please join up and participate.”

Watson isn’t the first celebrity to start a book club: Reese Witherspoon runs a club on Instagram and Gwyneth Paltrow runs a cookbook club via her lifestyle website, Goop.

You can join in?her book club and discussions here.?We’re already signed up.