Goodwill Ambassador Emma Watson delivered an impressive speech at a special event for the HeForShe Campaign at the UN Headquarters, New York on the 20th of September, 2014. Even if her voice was trembling her message was strong and clear: “I am reaching out to you because I need your help. We want to end gender inequality – and to do that we need everyone to be involved.” She emphasized the fact that this is the first UN campaign of its kind, aimed at involving as many people as possible in order to advocate for gender equality.
Emma Watson was appointed Goodwill Ambassador six months ago, and ever since she has realized that “fighting for women’s rights has too often become synonym with man-hating”. In fact, the definition of feminism is “the belief that men and women should have equal rights and opportunities. It is the theory of the political, economic and social equality of the sexes.” Since she was 8 she has questioned gender-based assumptions. She was called “bossy”, she was being sexualized by certain elements of the press, she saw her girlfriends giving up sports afraid not to become “muscular”, but she also saw that her male friends were unable to show their feelings.
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She decided to be a feminist, and this didn’t seem too complicated for her. But she has discovered that feminism has become an unpopular word. She is British and she has been lucky enough to enjoy the same privileges as men. But no country in the world has yet achieved gender equality. Only a few women have been afforded the same rights as men. Men also suffer from gender stereotypes, making them unable to ask for help when necessary. We have to stop defining each other by what we are not and start defining by what we are so that we can all be freer. This is what the campaign HeForShe is about: freedom to be ourselves, to step forward, to speak out.