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Emma Watson-- He For She
Speech
by UN Women Goodwill Ambassador Emma Watson at a
special event for the
He For She
campaign, United Nations Headquarters, New York,
20 September2014.
Today
we
are
launching
a
campaign
called
“He
For
She.”
I
am
reaching
out
to
you
because I
need your help. We want to end gender
inequality
—
and to do that we
need
everyone to be involved. This is
the first campaign of its kind at the UN: we want
to
try
and
galvanize
as
many
men
and
boys
as
possible
to
be
advocates
for
gender
equa
lity.
And we don’t just want to talk about it, but make
sure it is
tangible.
I was appointed six months ago and the
more I have spoken about feminism the more
I have 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: “The
belief
that
men and
women
should
have equal rights and opportunities. It
is the theory of the political, economic and
social equality o
f the
sexes.”
I
started
questioning
gender-based
assumptions
when
at
eight
I
was
confused
at
being called “bossy,”
because I wanted to direct the plays
we
would put on for our
parents
—
but the
boys were not. When at 14 I started being
sexualized by certain
elements of the
press. When at 15 my girlfriends started dropping
out of their sports
teams because they
didn’t want to appear “muscly.”
When at
18 my male friends were
unable to
express their feelings.
I
decided
I
was
a
feminist
and
this
seemed
uncomplicated
to
me.
But
my
recent
research has shown me
that feminism has become an unpopular word.
Apparently I am
among the ranks of
women whose expressions are seen as too strong,
too aggressive,
isolating, anti-men
and, unattractive. Why is the word such an
uncomfortable one?
I am
from Britain and think it is right that as a woman
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
decision-making of my country. 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 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 I would go
less
far because I might give birth to a child one day.
These influencers were the
gender
equality ambassadors that made who I am today.
They may not know it, but
they are the
inadvertent feminists who are. And we need more of
those. And if you