As the recently appointed United Nations Goodwill Ambassador, Emma Watson made a powerful speech at the UN Headquarters in which she spoke about the HeForShe campaign for gender equality. Less than a week has passed since the speech was made and already she has received praise by some, yet also been the victim of cruel threats from others.
Albeit slightly nervously, Watson eloquently addressed the UN and called people to support HeForShe in order to eliminate gender inequality. She referenced some startling statistics: ‘If we do nothing it will take 75 years […] 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 will be able to receive a secondary education.’
Watson also explained how men face issues regarding gender inequality too; she said suicide is the main killer of men between the ages of 20 and 49 in the UK and this may be because men suffering from mental illness are too afraid to ask for help ‘for fear it would make them look less macho.’ She insisted that the campaign was to bring equality to both genders and that it is absolutely not about women hating men.
At first, social media was awash with positive posts applauding Watson on her articulate speech. Celebrities including Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Douglas Booth, Simon Pegg, Lena Durham and Paloma Faith tweeted their support using #HeForShe.
Simon Pegg shows his support for #HeForShe
However, this positive response was soon eclipsed by cruel threats from internet trolls who declared that nude pictures of Watson would be released in five days. These threats seemed to be in retaliation to Watson explicitly supporting gender equality and also seemed to threaten any other high profile celebrity who may speak out in the future in support of this important topic.
The trolls did nothing more but to precisely demonstrate Watson’s assertion that women are vulnerable and often mocked for standing up and speaking out. They seemed to ridicule Watson’s involvement with the campaign and warned others to remain submissive and silent otherwise they may be targeted too.
Since then it has been revealed that the threats were actually a marketing hoax of social media company called Rantic. Rantic’s aim is to shut down 4chan, the website that has anonymously leaked many nude celebrity photos including those of Jennifer Lawrence. It is apparent that the photos they threatened to leak did not exist in the first place and that setting up the website was just a ploy to frame 4chan. When clicking on the fake website, people were redirected to Rantic’s own website where a message explaining their intentions to shut down 4chan was displayed.
Although it could be argued that Rantic had good intentions in trying to shut down 4chan, using the non-existent images of Watson as a ploy is still clearly threatening and damaging. Whilst unfortunately having to go through humiliation after receiving so much praise, Watson has proved that gender inequality is rife and that a new stand needs to be taken against it in the form of the UN’s new campaign.
Whilst the hoax has demonstrated how cruel the internet can be, we should try to concentrate on the positive response that Watson received instead. It is her original speech that should be the focus and Watson should be commended her for using her celebrity status to stand up for her beliefs regarding gender inequality in order to aim to make a difference in the world.
Emma Watson at the UN: Using her celebrity status to make a difference
Sources:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/newsbeat/29341593
http://www.unwomen.org/en/news/stories/2014/9/emma-watson-gender-equality-is-your-issue-too
http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2014/09/23/emma-watson-heforshe-support-celebrities_n_5868984.html
Image sources:
http://cdn4.independent.ie/incoming/article30605104.ece/dc39f/ALTERNATES/w620/emma1.jpg
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/ByNWyQgIcAAUBer.jpg
Edited by Harriet Dunlea