Forget ‘soft’ feminism. I want my feminism ‘hard’

Can you be a Disney princess and the feminist messiah? I wondered this earlier this week, upon seeing new images released for the new Beauty and the Beast film. It stars She Almighty – Emma Watson – the woman who hates female subjugation, gender stereotypes and all-round sexism, yet will be in a franchise that romanticises all three. In fact, Watson’s career choice confirms my suspicions that she is not the militant campaigner the world has taken her for, but mushy and romantic. As I saw her in Belle’s yellow gown – which I had myself aged four – I tried to imagine Germaine Greer and Camille Paglia doing the same, and failed. No wonder, of course, because they’re big, bad feminists. They are a forgotten breed in this watered-down age. If there’s such a thing as hard and soft Brexit, then there is hard and soft feminism too. Unfortunately, the latter has grown out of proportion thanks to Watson types.