Update: In yesterday's case of Emma Watson's "TIMES UP" tattoo versus the internet, the world was left wondering whether or not the ink (and correlating grammar mistake) was, in fact, real. Now, the star has taken to Twitter to confirm its invalidity, while responding to the criticism in stride: "Fake tattoo proofreading position available. Experience with apostrophes a must," she wrote. Punctuation enthusiasts, now's your chance.
This story was originally published by March 5.
Women in Hollywood are fed up — with discrimination, unequal pay, and unwanted sexual advances — and they're using their platforms at award shows to push the Time's Up and #MeToo movements forward. One such woman was activist Emma Watson, who attended last night's Vanity Fair Oscars party with a (likely) temporary tattoo of cursive script that read, "TIMES UP."
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But rather than focus on the important message emblazoned across her forearm, Twitter's self-appointed grammar police zero-ed in on something they deemed much more important: the phrase's lack of apostrophe.
To start, the obvious glossy sheen around the letters indicates that the tattoo is most likely a stencil appliqué that Watson washed off at the end of the night — so let's hold the outrage directed at her tattoo artist. And second, do you actually think a woman who started her own feminist book club while serving as an ambassador for the UN and advocating for human rights really doesn't understand proper punctuation? Would it matter this much if she didn't?
At the end of the day, what Watson elects to put on her body is her choice — grammar mistakes and all. And, who knows? Maybe she even purposefully left off the punctuation to make headlines, as one Twitter user hypothesized. But regardless, we're never going to hear anyone's message if we're nitpicking the delivery to this extent.
Standing in solidarity for women's rights at the biggest award show of the year? That's what's worth talking about. Period.
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