BY HUNTER THIERS

On September 20th Emma Watson, The UN Goodwill Ambassador, attended the “HeForShe” campaign launch in New York City, New York. At the launch, Watson gave a speech pushing for gender equality.

“For the record, feminism by definition is the belief that men and women should have equal rights and opportunities,” Watson says in her speech. 

We need to associate feminism with the definition of equal rights for the sexes versus the man-hating, rampaging image many associate with the word. Changing the meaning of feminism will make strides in the fight for gender equality.

However, this semantic change alone cannot bring about the gender equality our society requires. For women to be equal, men need to join the fight.

When Hillary Clinton gave her speech on women’s rights in Beijing, “less than thirty percent of the audience were male,” states Watson in her speech.

Male involvement in gender equality is alarmingly low. Men need to realize how important it is to join the fight—they will be affected, too.

Watson says in her speech, “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.”

If men join the fight for gender equality, they won’t have to feel emasculated because they are different from the male stereotype.  Vulnerability will not be emasculating and those men that support gender equality will ultimately be accepted.  People will have more empathy for each other, as there won’t be roles that say we can’t.

Consequently Watson says in her speech, “If men don’t have to be aggressive in order to be accepted, women won’t feel compelled to be submissive. If men don’t have to control, women won’t have to be controlled.”

By creating gender equality for both men and women, we can live in a world where people are empowered to be who they are. Women can be in jobs they want and deserve, and they can get paid the same as their male counterparts. Men can openly express their emotions, support what they want, say what they want, be what they want without feeling unmanly

Granted, this will not be an easy task, but for this change to happen, gender equality needs support. Now is the time to support gender equality because you have the power to make a difference in this world.

“If not me, who? If not now, when? If you have similar doubts when opportunities are presented to you, I hope those words will be helpful,” Watson says to summarize her speech.