Why Emma Watson’s Speech On Gender Equality Isn’t A Game-Changer, Writer Thinks
"Harry Potter" actress Emma Watson's speech has been one of the talks on the Internet since she spoke up about gender inequality and feminism at the United Nations last September 20. She got applause from the audience when she took her stand to formally launch the "HeForShe" campaign.
For those who are not familiar yet with the campaign, "HeForShe" "calls on men to become advocates for women and agents of change in the fight to end gender inequality", as defined on Brisbane Times in an article written by Clemetine Ford.
Being A Goodwill Ambassador for UN Women, Watson delivered the speech to invite men to participate in the campaign, saying, "Men, I would like to take this opportunity to extend your formal invitation. Gender equality is your issue, too. Because to date, I've seen my father's role as a parent being valued less by society, despite my need of his presence as a child, as much as my mother's. I've seen young men suffering from mental illness, unable to ask for help for fear it would make them less of a man. In fact, in the UK, suicide is the biggest killer of men between 20 to 49, eclipsing road accidents, cancer, and coronary heart disease. I've seen men made fragile and insecure by a distorted sense of what constitutes male success. Men don't have the benefits of equality, either."
Watson's speech was powerful, for most; however, Ford thinks that it is not a "game-changer" one. In her article at Brisbane Times, she highlighted the paragraph in the "Harry Potter" star that she thinks is a rubbish: "In her speech, which has been repeatedly labeled "game-changing", Watson highlighted the impact of gender inequality on boys and men. After providing some very accessible, positive, and necessary thoughts on feminism in general, she offered this observation: 'We don't often talk about men being imprisoned by gender stereotypes but I can see that they are, and that when they are free, things will change for women as a natural consequence.'"
Ford explained, "Gender inequality comes as a direct result of the enforcement of patriarchal structures. Although men are impacted negatively by it, they are not impacted in the same ways or to the same drastically violent extent as women."
She is not against on Watson's speech if you are going to read her article, "I love that Emma Watson has bravely put herself on the line as a proud feminist. It's wonderful that she may be instrumental in inspiring millions more to consider these issues. Bravo to her. But to be truly game-changing, you have to actually change the game. And while it is important for men to choose to be allies, addressing actual systemic inequality through the funding of programs which empower and defend women's sexual, economic and political rights is the only way to ensure women have a chance at winning."
