Emma Watson  Gender Equalty Is Your Issue Too |
I was appointed as a goodwill
ambassador for UN women 6 months ago. And the more I have spoken about feminism
the more I realized that fighting for women’s rights has too often become
synonymous with man-hating. If there is one thing I know for certain, it is that
this has to stop. For the record, feminism by definition is: is the belief that men
and women should have equal rights and opportunities. It is the theory of
political, economic, and social equality of the sexes. I started questioning
gender-based assumptions a long time ago when I was eight. I was confused at
being called “bossy,” because I wanted to direct the plays that we would put on
for our parents – but the boys were not. When at 14, I started to be sexualized
by certain elements of the media. When at 15 my girlfriends started dropping
out of their beloved sports teams because they didn’t want to appear “muscly.”
When at 18 my male friends were unable to express their feelings.
I decided that I was a feminist
and this seemed uncomplicated to me. But my research has shown me that feminism
has become an unpopular word. Women are choosing not to identify as feminists.
Apparently, I am among the ranks of women whose expressions are seen as too
strong, too aggressive, isolating, and anti-men, unattractive even. Why has the
world become such an uncomfortable one? I am from Britain and I think it is
right that I am paid the same as my male counterparts. I think it is right that
I should be able to make decisions about my own body. I think it is right that
women be involved on my behalf in the policies and the decisions that will
affect my life. I think it is right that socially I am afforded the same
respect as men. But sadly I can say that there is no one country in the world
where all women can expect to receive these rights. No country in the world can
yet say that they have achieved gender equality. These rights I consider to be
human rights but I am one of the lucky ones. My life is a sheer privilege
because my parents didn’t love me less because I was born a daughter.
My school did not limit me
because I was a girl. My mentors didn’t assume that I would go less far because
I might give birth to a child one day. These influencers were the gender
equality ambassadors that me who I am today. They may not know it, but they are
the inadvertent feminists who are changing the world today. We need more of
those. And if you still hate the word- it is not the word that is important it
is the idea and the ambition behind it. Because not all women have received the
same rights that I have. In fact, statistically, very few have been. In 1997,
Hilary Clinton made a famous speech in Beijing about women’s rights. Sadly,
many of the things that she wanted to change are still true today. But what
stood out for me the most was that less than 30 percent of the audience were
male. How can we affect change in the world when only half of it is invited or
feel welcome to participate in the conversation? Men – I would like to take
this opportunity to extend your formal invitation.
Gender equality is your issue too. Because to date, I’ve
seen my father’s role as a parent being valued less by society despite my
needing his presence as a child as much as my mother’s. I’ve seen young men
suffering from mental illness unable to ask for help, for fear it would make
them look less of men – or
less of a man. In fact, in the
UK suicide is the biggest killer of men between 20-49; eclipsing road
accidents, cancer and coronary heart disease. I’ve seen men made fragile and
insecure by a distorted sense of what constitutes male success. Men don’t have
the benefits of equality either. We don’t often talk about men being imprisoned
by gender stereotypes but I can see that they are and that when they are free,
things will change for women as a natural consequence. If men don’t have to be
aggressive in order to be accepted, women won’t feel compelled to be
submissive. If men don’t have to control, women won’t have to be controlled.
Both men and women should feel free to be sensitive. Both men and women should
free to be strong. It is time that we all perceive gender on a spectrum instead
of two sets of opposing ideals. If we stop defining each other by what we are
not and start defining ourselves by who we are, we can all be freer and this is
what HeForShe is about. It is about freedom. I want men to take up this mantle.
So that their daughters, sisters and mothers can be free from prejudice but
also so that their sons have permission to be vulnerable and human too.
Reclaim those parts of
themselves they abandoned and in doing so be a truer and completer version of
themselves. You might be thinking who is this Harry Potter girl? And what is
she doing speaking at the UN? And it’s really good question; I have been asking
myself the same thing. All I know is that I care about this problem. And I want
to make it better. And having seen what I have seen – and given the chance- I
feel it is my responsibility to say something. Statesman Edmund Burke said:
“All that is needed for the forces of evil to triumph is for good men and women
to do nothing.” In my nervousness for this speech and in my moments of doubt, I
have told myself firmly – if not me, who? It not now, when? If you have similar
doubts when opportunities are presented to you I hope that those words will be
helpful. Because the reality is that if we do nothing it will take 75 years, or
for me to be nearly a hundred before women can expect to be paid the same as
men for the same work. 15.5 million girls will be married in the next 16 years
as children. And at current rates, it won’t be until 2086 before all rural
African girls can have a secondary education.
If you believe in equality, you
might be one of those inadvertent feminists that I spoke of earlier, and for
this I applaud you. We are struggling for a uniting world but the good news is
that we have a uniting movement. It is called HeForShe. I am inviting you to
step forward, to be see, and to ask yourself, if not me, who? If not now,
when? Thank you very, very much!
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