cmrogersonFeminism has had the wingardium leviosa spell cast upon it as Emma Watson gave a passionate speech on gender equality at the U.N headquarters in New York this weekend. As the U.N Women Goodwill Ambassador, she introduced the “HeForShe” campaign to an audience who later gave her a standing ovation.
In her speech she redefined the image of a feminist,
“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.”
She has wrestled with unshaven, bra-burning image for feminism and thrown it out of the ring. She also called for men to assist in the eventual arrival of gender equality,
“It cannot be that women will do this alone… it remains an important women’s issue that requires the whole of society, men and women, to be involved.”
Her riveting speech has already gained the support of celebrities, such as Simon Pegg and Joseph Gordon-Levitt as well as the support of feminist world-wide.
Ms Watson stayed grounded at the end of her speech when she said “You might be thinking who is this Harry Potter girl? And what is she speaking at the UN. It’s a good question and I’ve been asking myself the same thing. I don’t know if I’m the right person to be speaking. All I know is that I care about this problem. And I want to make it better.”
She finished her speech by reiterating her stance and calling for support, which she has gained quickly.
“It is called HeForShe. I am inviting you to step forward, to be seen to speak up; to be the ‘he for she’ – and to ask yourself if not me, who, if not, now when.”
10 points to Gryffindor!
Read her full speech here:
http://www.heforshe.org/EmmaWatsonSpeech.pdf