In the last few weeks, the great and powerful Emma Watson has created quite a buzz. The "Beauty and the Beast" star has been outspoken on her passion for women's rights, through her role as Belle, along with her real life dealings with fame and spectacle. For years, we've seen just how capable Watson is of not only exemplifying poise and grace as an actress, but as a leader and activist as well.

Belle is a legendarily iconic role, not just as a Disney princess, but a strong female lead as well. And for Watson, this is nothing new. She played the ever iconic Hermoine Granger at just 9 years old, and continued to surpass our expectations for seven years. But, playing a princess in a live action remake offered new challenges. Watson, in interviews leading up to the films release next week (March 17 —mark your calendars), combated some of the criticisms launched against the first installment of this infamous fairy tale. The largest of these criticisms, of course, has been the 20-year debate over whether Belle's love for the Beast is actually Stockholm Syndrome. After grappling with the question herself in the early days of filming, the outspoken feminist rejected the idea, stating, "[Belle] keeps her independence; she keeps that freedom of thought. I also think there is a very intentional switch where, in my mind, Belle decides to stay. She's giving him hell. There is no sense of 'I need to kill this guy with kindness.' Or any sense that she deserves this. In fact, she gives as good as she gets. He bangs on the door, she bangs back. There's this defiance that 'You think I'm going to come and eat dinner with you and I'm your prisoner—absolutely not.'"

Watson maintains this firming empowered position in more than just her on screen roles. The actress recently came under fire for her partially exposed cover shot for Vanity Fair, when critics claimed that she was 'unfeminist' for wearing a revealing top for a photo shoot. Upon hearing these remarks, Watson directly addressed how this way of thinking was problematic for women and for the media. She, alongside costar Dan Stevens, remarked that, "I think there is...misconception about what feminism is. Feminism is about giving women choice; feminism is not a stick with which to beat other women with. It's about freedom, it's about liberation, it's about equality. I really don't know what my tits have to do with it; it's very confusing." She also went on to discuss how truly artistic the shoot was, and had wished that viewers had seen how interesting and beautiful the photographers vision had been.

And finally, Watson honored International Women's Day this past Wednesday in a way that was nothing short of inspiring. About a year ago, Emma Watson created her own online book club, entitled "Our Shared Shelf." The club, whose mission is simply to create buzz around some exceptional feminist literature, has done remarkably well with 177, 273 members on Goodreads and over 136,000 followers on Instagram.

Watson has said on multiple occasions how impacting literature and reading has been in her life, so it's unsurprising that she choose to honor the day in such a way. After purchasing dozens of copies of key feminist works, Watson spent the day traveling to women's monuments and leaving copies for people in search of a good read. She also went on to donate copies to local bookstores and small businesses. In Instagram and Twitter posts she calls attention to each of these remarkable women and how they shaped the world we live in.