SECTION TITLE

EMMA
WATSON
AND THE
FIGHT FOR
EQUALITY

basi uhuru pete

ISSUE V.X.VII.

ISSUE V.X.VII.

basi uhuru pete

WORLD

by meredith whitlock
design janaye clifford
photo simon luethi

On September 21, 2014, Emma Watson addressed the

United Nations on the issue of feminism and gender
equality. She was named the U.N. Women Goodwill
Ambassador earlier this year, serving as an advocate for
the HeForShe campaign. This campaign, created by the
U.N. Women, is a solidarity movement to encourage men,
at a young age, to become advocates for gender equality
and womens rights.
Her speech went viral in 24 hours with postings via every
form of media, and with every viral video today, there
is always controversial rebuttal. Online responses have
targeted Watson in every way possible way from her ethnicity to her wealth, power, fame, and intelligence.
One blog, by a woman who considers herself a feminist,
targets Watson by saying she is letting men off easy. The
blogger reminds us of the history of womens suffrage and
how men have claimed their seats in society as being oneup from women, so why should we encourage them when
they already have benefits?
All of these negative and harsh responses to Watsons
speech muddle the point she is trying to relay. That men
and women both need to stand up and take action for
gender equality around the world.
Feminism is, in fact, defined as gender equality, equal
rights for women and men. I consider myself a feminist,
not because I dislike men, but because I believe in equal
rights and actions for women on a global scale. I have

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several male friends that consider themselves feminists

because they understand gender inequality and womens
rights are a major factor in global development.

GENDER INEQUALITY AND

WOMENS RIGHTS ARE A
MAJOR FACTOR IN GLOBAL
DEVELOPMENT.
The HeForShe campaign reaches out to women, men,
girls, and boys to ignite a unified concept of equal
opportunity from an early age that can be passed down
to following generations. I understand the stance of feminism, because I consider myself an advocate for womens
empowerment and education. However, there will be a
continuous divide between genders if we marginalize our
efforts of equality to just women. Men need to understand the issues as well, and they need to be educated on
the subject from an early age. Todays society is continuously evolving with social change, and in order for change
to be effective we cannot degrade the other gender, but
encourage them to walk alongside the movement.
Emma Watson made powerful statements and brought
modernity to the subject of gender equality, which
encompasses our world and is a key issue in development.
She has done one thing that most people do not: stand
up and take action.
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