On September 20, 2014, English actress and UN Women Goodwill Ambassador Emma Watson gave a speech at the United Nations Headquarters for the launch of the HeForShe campaign. While some may think of Watson as just a British actress who starred as Hermione Granger in the Harry Potter franchise, Watson is a strong activist for women’s rights. She has traveled to countries such as Zambia and Bangladesh to endorse education for girls and recently visited Uruguay, where she gave a speech that focused on the importance of women having a voice in politics.
Watson was selected to be a UN Women Goodwill Ambassador this past July. She is already making daily headlines with the HeForShe campaign that she founded. HeForShe stresses the importance of gender equality and urges men to join the cause and voice the inequalities that women face in today’s world. In her eloquent UN speech, Watson made the point that we are not here to just talk about inequality, but to take action and have a firm stance in our fight against this great injustice.
As Watson has mentioned, feminism is not at all about hating men; it is about giving women the right to be viewed as equals to men in every society. This campaign is getting our male counterparts involved and educated about our struggles, and it is having them fight alongside us in the battle of inequality in hopes that one day we will all be seen as equals.
Several male figures in Hollywood have spoken out in support of this campaign, including Logan Lerman, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Simon Pegg, Harry Styles, Forrest Whittaker, and Douglas Booth.
Women and girls all over the world are fighting for the rights to…
- an education
- be politically active
- marry and divorce
- have health care
- own land
- have equal pay
- travel
- dress as they please
- end violence and sexual abuse
- end to female infanticide
- stop being viewed as financial burdens at conception
Log on to www.heforshe.org and take action by joining the movement to end the discrimination against females across the globe.