Emma Watson and #HeForShe

Actress Emma Watson made her first public appearance as a Goodwill Ambassador for UN Women, pronouncing a powerful gender equality speech at the UN headquarters in New York City at the official launching of the #HeforShe campaign.

#HeforShe is a campaign that aims to raise awareness for gender equality by specifically targeting male participation in society and highlighting women’s rights around the world. Emma Watson took this opportunity to clarify the misconception of the word ‘feminism‘. She said:

“Feminism by definition is the belief that men and women should have equal rights and opportunities. It’s the theory of political, economic and social equality of the sexes.”

The HeforShe name may suggest anything but a pro-gender equality campaign. At first sight, the name HeforShe implies that females need men to be women’s saviors, almost insinuating that only through the participation of men can women achieve equality of rights and opportunities. But, through Emma Watson’s expressions, the purpose of the campaign is clarified:

In her speech, Emma Watson declares herself a feminist. She also pronounces herself in favor of the right women have to make decisions over their own bodies,  the right to get paid equally as men and to have better access to education. Watson also makes clear that gender inequality not only affects women but also men. She emphasized that men are also victims of today’s stereotypes. It is a reality that the role of stay-at-home father is not as highly valued in society as that of a working father, and that young boys are taught from an early age that showing their emotions isn’t “macho”. According to Watson, this campaign tries to change that.

She notes that in Hilary Clinton’s 1997 women rights’ speech in Beijing, less than 30 percent of the audience was male. “How can we bring change to the world when only half of it is invited to participate in this conversation?” she asked. “If men don’t have to be aggressive in order to be accepted, women won’t feel compelled to be submissive.” Because of this, she extends an invitation to men to join the feminist movement, not only for women’s rights but to also break gender expectations that limit and stunt men.

Emma Watson gained popularity in her childhood by bringing to life the character of Hermione Granger from the beloved Harry Potter series. Because of the great popularity of the books and of the movie saga, Watson became a constant role model for both young men and women. She recently graduated from Brown University and has avoided the drug and alcohol scandals that have affected many other young stars in today’s media.  Furthermore, she actively engages in social media sites such as Twitter to raise awareness of modern instances of gender inequality.

Unfortunately, after Emma Watson’s speech went viral on the Internet, there have been many negative reactions. An anonymous 4chan user has threatened to realease nude pictures of the Harry Potter actress, much like what happened with another well-known star, Jennifer Lawrence. While there’s no proof that these pictures actually exist, this can be considered as an example of the problem she is talking about. As said in a recent article published in Trove: “when the Internet responds to a woman’s declaration of feminism by threatening to commit a crime against her – to violate and victimized her – it only strengthens the message she’s sending.” 

• Emma Watson
• feminism
• HeForShe
• speech