Through a women and gender studies class, I've had this opportunity to create a blog formulated around feminism, women's rights, leadership in the movement, and discrimination in gender and race. This opportunity proved to be very rewarding as I believe it is very important to be informed of the history and current struggles faced by women today. Having this understanding allows people to have a greater appreciation for feminism, as well as know what it really stands for. Too many times have I heard people say that the women's movement is "dead" or an argument towards males, so being informed and equipped with the real truth is the only way to face these false statements and really have the opportunity to make change. I was inspired to choose a theme about the parallels in the past and present because of a newspaper I received one day. The head story read ,"Local Women Making 68 Cents Off Of Every Dollar Males Make." I was surprised because in my class, we had recently studied women's pay in the past and legislation that was supposed to guarantee equality. I was very curious to research the issues women still have today compared to the same in the past and feel that this blog adequately represents some of these parallels, as well as the historical background of the women's movement and leadership within.
Sunday, October 12, 2014
Watson in the Women's Movement
Most people recognize Emma Watson as Hermione Granger from the Harry Potter Movies. Not as many, however, are aware of her action in the feminist movement today, but this is soon to change. On July 8, 2014, she was appointed by the United Nations Women's Organization to serve as the Goodwill Ambassador. The organization is dedicated to the gender equality and empowerment of females around the world. They selected Emma Watson as the ambassador because her past humanitarian and girl's education work with visits to Zambia and Bangladesh. She plans to direct her work towards the empowerment of young women and is serving as the representative for the UN Women's HeForShe campaign, which was delivered in her speech above. Upon receiving notice of her choosing for the position, Emma responded: "Being asked to serve as UN Women’s Goodwill Ambassador is truly humbling. The chance to make a real difference is not an opportunity that everyone is given and is one I have no intention of taking lightly. Women’s rights are something so inextricably linked with who I am, so deeply personal and rooted in my life that I can’t imagine an opportunity more exciting. I still have so much to learn, but as I progress I hope to bring more of my individual knowledge, experience and awareness to this role." (United Nations Women's Organization)
Photo: imaginepeace.com
Photo: Telegram.co.uk
The HeForShe campaign is a solidarity movement that is asking boys and men to get involved in supporting and advocating the feminist movement. In her speech seen above, Watson explained the real meaning of feminism- the equality of the sexes. She stated, "The more I have talked about feminism, the more I've realized that fighting for women's rights has too often become synonymous with man-hating. If there is one thing I know for certain, it is that this has to stop." Her speech highlighted feminist issues that genders face today compared to the past. Women face discrimination in education, leadership positions, the workforce, and sexual assault. Males face challenging pressures to be tough and ignore healthy emotions. One of her main points was explaining how men and women can be strong, and men and women can be vulnerable.
This campaign is working towards the involvement of men in the fight for equal rights by comparing gender struggles to those of the past; in today's society there needs to be more of a cumulative effort of both sexes than there has been in history. Feminism and equal rights will not be achieved or progressed if both sexes won't come together to fight it harmoniously, recognizing that gender issues effect both women and men. (HeForShe.org)
Countdown Threat to Emma Watson for Feminist Speech
Photo: ryot.org
According to a periodical by Charlotte Alter on Time.com, the overall response to Emma Watson's speech and the campaign have been both very positive and very negative. She mentioned in her speech: "no country in the world can yet say they have achieved gender equality," which was absolutely proven with the absurd negative responses. Although over 68,000 men from around the world signed on to the campaign, Watson has also received threats in response to her feminist speech. The 4chan message board which is not identifiable by law enforcement created a webpage called "Emma You Are Next," in citation to the attacks they made on Jennifer Lawrence and other celebrities. This page was a supposedly countdown to the release of nude pictures of her to the public in disgust to her "stupid" feminist speech. Other web users starting spreading a rumor that she had died posting, "#RIPEmmaWatson." Although the immense amount of subscribers to the campaign was definitely a step in the right direction, it is questionable to everyone how many steps backwards the evil attacks symbolize. (Alter, Charlotte)
Sources:
Alter, Charlotte. "Emma Watson Asked Men To
Support Women And Here's How They Responded." Time.Com (2014): 1. Business
Source Premier. Web. 12 Oct. 2014.
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