Her Campus Logo Her Campus Logo
This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at Wilfrid Laurier chapter.

Ever since landing her role as Hermione Granger, Emma Watson has proven many times to be an excellent role model for young women. With International Women’s Day taking place this month, she is a prime example of the kind of achievements we should strive to gain.

Most people will know her for her iconic role, but Emma is also a major advocate for women’s rights and was even recognized by the UN and given the title of UN Women’s Goodwill Ambassador in 2014. With a crucial part of the organization “He for She”, Emma has been a voice for women all around the world, and her words have inspired countless women to follow after her.

Emma Watson illustration
Image by Abdullah Munzer from Pixabay
While she is a renowned actress and has starred in many big movies such as the remake of Beauty and the Beast, we can’t just judge an actress’s success and outreach for women’s rights movements by the films that they have been in. There are a lot of actresses in Hollywood, yet there are not half as many that have been as active in issues involving women as Emma Watson has been. In an interview with British Vogue where the actress did a review of the items in her bag, Emma revealed that she tries to be as sustainable and eco-conscious as possible (including carrying around a glass straw – something relatable for us at Laurier since we’re always confronted with paper straws now.

In a world where men are applauded often for doing the bare minimum and women are not as recognized for their accomplishments, Emma Watson shows us that we can write our own narrative and be a good influence on the women in our lives. Being a woman, you will constantly feel like you are being knocked down or not being taken seriously for your accomplishments. Because of this, we must continue to lift one another up and help each other. Emma shows us what can come from believing in yourself and demonstrates to us that we are not alone.

International Women’s Day is a day of celebrating womankind and all of our similarities and differences. In today’s day and age, we have more opportunities than ever. Hundreds of years ago, women would have killed to have been able to have the opportunities that we have. Being educated, having jobs and being able to vote are things that we take for granted, but we must remember to be thankful for every day. Being a woman is hard, but it’s pretty freakin’ cool. After all, we’ve come so far – and we still have so far to go!

Bronte Behling

Wilfrid Laurier '23

A second year Cultural Studies and Film Studies double major student at Wilfrid Laurier University, Bronte has had a passion for creative writing since middle school where she took an online summer course about J.R.R Tolkien's the Silmarillion. A cat lover, Star Wars fan and podcast enthusiast she aims to gain more writing experience through this publication in order to pursue her post-degree goal of becoming a journalist.
Rebecca is in her 5th year at Wilfrid Laurier University.  During the school year, she can be found drinking copious amounts of kombucha, watching hockey and procrastinating on Pinterest. She joined HCWLU as an editor in the Winter 2018 semester, and after serving as one of the Campus Correspondents in 2019-20, she is excited to be returning for the 2020-21 school year! she/her