Emma Watson has opened up about the "anxiety" she has felt in the past to settle down and start a family.
The Harry Potter star, who is often outspoken about her views on gender equality, spoke candidly in a previous chat with Teen Vogue about how women can feel societal pressure to hit certain milestones.
"In the run-up to my 30s, [I felt] this incredible, sudden anxiety and pressure that I had to be married or have a baby or move into a house," Emma, 33, said.
"And there was no word for this kind of subliminal messaging and anxiety and pressure that I felt building up but couldn't really name, so I used the word self-partnered."
The Perks of Being a Wallflower actor's decision to brand herself as "self-partnered" sparked some commentary online, to which she responded: "For me, it wasn’t so much about coining a word; it was more that I needed to create a definition for something that I didn’t feel there was language for.
"And it was interesting because it really riled some people up! It was less for me about the word but more about what it meant — just this idea that we need to reclaim language and space in order to express ourselves because sometimes it's really not there."
Emma Watson's incredible acting and academic success
Emma's candid response to societal pressure will no doubt ring true and relatable for many of her fans. The star is, to many, thought of as a source of inspiration when it comes to furthering education and career opportunities.
After achieving phenomenal success in the Harry Potter franchise, Emma has gone on to land other credits in blockbuster movies including Beauty and the Beast, but her academia has been her main focus for the past few years.
Currently, Emma is studying for a part-time master's degree in creative writing at the prestigious Oxford University.
Prior to her post-graduate study, Emma obtained a degree in English literature at Brown University in the States, which also involved a year's study at Oxford.
Emma has explained her decision to focus on her writing after stepping away from acting to Vogue: "I wasn't very happy if I'm being honest.
"I think I felt a bit caged. The thing I found really hard was that I had to go out and sell something that I really didn't have very much control over."
What Emma has said about relationships
In the same Teen Vogue interview, Emma shared her honest thoughts about how tricky relationships can be.
"[Relationships] require an actual conversation and agreement about the delegation of tasks and labour and responsibilities that maybe you don't feel you need to have or should have if you follow those traditional stereotypes," she said.
"The idea that relationships are supposed to be easy and it's all supposed to be implicitly understood, and you’re just meant to get each other, it's [expletive]! It's impossible!"
Who is Emma Watson dating?
In recent pictures obtained by The Sun, Emma was seen getting cosy with a new man, though the identity of the actor's new boyfriend has not been revealed.
Emma was previously linked to Ryan Walsh, Chord Overstreet and Brandon Green. See her full dating history, here.
