YOUNG WOMEN ROCK!!! UNWOMEN - #HEFORSHE —Emma Watson Speech
For the record - Feminism by definition 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”.
I started questioning gender-based assumptions a long time ago. When at 8 I was confused at being called ‘bossy’ because I wanted to direct the plays we would put on for our parents - but the boys were not. When at 14 I started to be sexualized by certain elements of the press. When at 15 my girlfriends started dropping out of their beloved sports teams because they didn’t want to appear ‘muscly’. When at 18 my male friends were unable to express their feelings. I decided I was a feminist and this seemed uncomplicated to me. But my recent research has shown me that feminism has become an unpopular word. Women are choosing not to identify as feminist. Apparently I am among the ranks of women whose expressions are seen as too strong, too aggressive, isolating, anti-men and,
unattractive. Why is the word become such an uncomfortable one?…
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 needing his presence as a child as much as my mother’s. I’ve seen a young man suffering from mental illness unable to ask for help for fear it would make him less of a man - in fact in the UK suicide is the biggest killer of men between 20-49;
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.
More: EmmaWatsonSpeech.pdf
Youtube Video
Another Young Woman we have the Privilege to have among us:
Malala Yousafzai addresses United Nations Youth Assembly