Six months ago, Emma Watson was appointed as a Goodwill Ambassador for the United Nations. Recently, she delivered a speech at the United Nations Headquarters in New York City to launch the U.N. Women campaign, HeForShe. The campaign calls for the inclusion of men to advocate for gender equality throughout the world. Evidently years ago, a 1997 speech Hillary Clinton delivered in Beijing, China concerning women’s rights, caught the young Watson’s attention. Not necessarily because of the content, but because the audience consisted of very few men. Watson stated, “How can we affect change in the world when only half of it is invited or feel welcome to participate in the conversation?” She continued, “Men, I would like to take this opportunity to extend your formal invitation. Gender equality is your issue, too.” Exactly!! It’s about time someone pointed out the obvious, both genders need to be part of this, it’s not only about women.
Emma Watson, well known for her role as Hermione Granger in the Harry Potter film series, has staked her claim as a feminist, but not the man hating kind. Watson, who graduated from Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island in May 2014 with a Bachelor’s degree in English Literature, is quite the opposite. She supports equal rights for both genders. She states, “Men don’t have the benefits of equality either.” Drawing on her own experiences, she shared how she’s seen her father’s role as a parent less valued by society. She went on, “I’ve seen young men suffering from mental illness, being unable to ask for help, for fear it would make them less of a men, or less of a man.” She states, “In fact, in the U.K., suicide is the biggest killer of men, between 20 to 49…” Likewise, in the United States, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Data & Statistic Fatal Injury Report for 2011 reported, “For many years, the suicide rate in the U.S. has been 4 times higher among men than women.” Their study collected data from 1981 to 2011, concluding, “In 2011, men had a suicide rate of 20.2, and women had a rate of 5.4. Of those who died by suicide, in 2011, 78.5% were male and 21.5% were female.” Sadly, our societal stereo typing of men and women’s roles, has been a disservice to both genders.
It’s time for a change, it’s time for both genders to be free from society’s restrictions. Thank you, Emma Watson for so eloquently addressing the matter of gender equality and inspiring others to seek a means of making a difference in our world.
