Back in 2014, British actress Emma Watson who is best known from the Harry Potter franchise delivered a speech at the launch of the HeForShe campaign after being appointed as Goodwill Ambassador for UN Women.
During her speech she touched on the significance of feminism as it being of a mutual advantage to men and women to deconstruct gender roles that are harmful to both genders.
We suggest you have a watch and here are two of our favourite stand out points from her speech:
On the deconstruction of gender roles: “If men don’t have to be aggressive in order to be accepted, then women won’t feel compelled to be submissive. If men don’t have to be control, women won’t have to be controlled. Both men and women should feel free to be sensitive, both men and women should feel free to be strong.”
On pushing herself to stand up and be part of the movement of gender equality to make a change: “In my moments of doubt, I told myself firmly “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.”
Emma Watson’s speech is a true example of why standing for gender equality and how everyone’s involvement is needed to make this a reality across the world.
