Emma Watson Joins Twitter Protest With Snap Of Herself Grinning On The Street As Turkish Politician’s Comment That Women Shouldn't Laugh In Public!
Emma Watson is setting out to prove that laughter really is the best medicine.
The British actress showed her support for the thousands of women who are in defiance of a Turkish politician calling for a ban on public laughter.
On Friday, the "Harry Potter" star took to her Twitter account to share a photo of herself laughing in public, complete with the message "direnkahkaha," which means "resist laughter" in the Turkish language.
.@UN_Women @phumzileunwomen @e_nyamayaro pic.twitter.com/YkvWKN3iqo
— Emma Watson (@EmWatson) August 1, 2014
The toothy snapshot is Watson's way of protesting Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Bulent Arinc's comment that women should not be seen laughing in public.
Arinc made the comment earlier in the week during a celebration for Eid el-Fitr. In his speech, the Turkish government official said women should abide by a strict moral code, which included not smiling or laughing in the streets.
"The women should have chastity... she should not laugh in front of everyone and not be inviting in her behavior. She should protect her honor," Arinc said in his speech, according to Hurriyet Daily News.
The deputy prime minister also condemned television programs that he said were geared toward transforming people from "symbols of chastity" to "sex symbols."
"Where are our girls, who slightly blush, lower their heads and turn their eyes away when we look at their face, becoming the symbol of chastity?" Arinc said.
But it was Arinc's comment on public laughter that sparked outrage in the Internet, prompting women taking to their Twitter and Instagram accounts to post pictures of themselves laughing and grinning with the hashtags "#direnkahkaha" and "#direnkadin," which means "resist woman."
Even Turkish men are standing behind the female population amid Arinc's comments.
Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, who is running against Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan in next week's presidential elections, said Turkey women need to laugh and to hear other people laugh.
