Emma Watson has never been afraid to step outside the box, and her recent comments on marriage, on Jay Shetty’s “On Purpose” podcast, have caused quite a stir. The actress refutes the idea that marriage is a necessary step and strongly denounces the pressure placed on young women to conform to it.
A rejection of social pressure around marriage
In this interview, Emma Watson addresses the issue of marriage head-on, explaining that the social pressure on young people, and especially women, to “make a success of their lives” through marriage is, in her opinion, violence. She believes that this expectation associated with personal success is unjustified and a source of suffering, stating: “I think it’s a violence and a cruelty that we impose on people – especially young people, and even more so on women – by making them believe that they have no value or that they have failed because they haven’t forced their lives to this point.”
For Emma Watson, being in a relationship should be a choice, not an obligation
The actress refuses to see marriage as a mandatory step or an end in itself. She values the idea that a true union is a miracle based on sincere intention, emotional maturity, and self-knowledge. Emma Watson shares that if she had married too early, it would have been “carnage,” because she wasn’t ready to make that choice deliberately and for the right reasons. Today, she says she’s able to consider a relationship only out of desire and not out of necessity: “I want to be with someone because I want to, not because I need to.”
Marriage, between projections and realities
According to Emma Watson, true love and building a strong partnership are based on much more than the ideal conveyed by Hollywood or fairy tales. She laments the unrealistic expectations generated by these narratives, which overlook the complexity of lasting relationships: “The difficulty is not falling in love, but finding someone who really wants to be in a dance with you. The real work is learning how to argue constructively, to generate trust and security.”
Words that make things happen
These reflections provoked numerous reactions because they challenge a dominant model and touch on the value society places on women’s romantic journeys. By publicly describing the pressure of marriage as “violence,” Emma Watson invited a discussion on autonomy, respect for rhythm, and the diversity of life choices.
By loudly asserting that marriage should never be an obligation, Emma Watson paves the way for a broader reflection on individual freedom and respect for personal choices. Her words remind us that each romantic journey is unique and that life’s success is not measured by conformity to a social model. In a world still attached to traditional codes, this message resonates as a call to rethink our expectations and value the plurality of ways of experiencing love.
