Emma Watson shares she needed a silent retreat to be at home with herself

Emma Watson shared that towards the end of her relationship with now ex-boyfriend Matthew Janney, she needed to go on a silent retreat to learn how to feel at home with herself. She and Janney broke up in December, which she called a “horrendous” moment of her life.

Speaking on the September issue of Vogue UK, the “Harry Potter” star claimed that even before the relationship ended, she was already feeling a lot of discomfort and needed to go on a silent retreat to fix herself. "I felt really uncomfortable," she shared. She added, "Even before my relationship ended, I went on a silent retreat, because I really wanted to figure out how to be at home with myself."

Watson, a staunch supporter of gender equality, also claimed that assuming that men always end up feeling intimidated by her star power is wrong and undermines men. She shared that all her past boyfriends made her feel really loved and cherished. She said that she did not feel empowered just because of her career or feel as if she struggled with her love life because of her celebrity status. She said the assumption that males would just feel intimidated because she is a star is “patronising towards men.”

Aside from her cover for Vogue UK, she also did a video for the publication, stating why the fashion industry’s leading designers should be mindful of gender equality. In the video, Emma can be seen quizzing various fashion designers such as Stella McCartney, Jonathan Saunders and Erdem Moralioglu on the need for gender equality. All the fashion designers were game in answering and acknowledged the need to address the issue.

Watson also said that even though changes can be see in the fashion industry when it comes to diversity and equality, a lot of improvements can still be made. As of now, the actress claims there is a lot of racism and sexism going on, and the need for more diverse representation of women still cannot be emphasized enough. The star also shared that a dialogue on these issues is necessary.

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