Emma Watson. Most of you will know her as Hermione Granger from Harry Potter, but she has been really busy since those films, and not just in the acting world. Over recent years she has used her platform that came with her fame as a way to promote gender equality and feminism.
People often confuse Feminism with Misandry, or ‘man-hating’. I have found this to be one of the biggest obstacles that Feminism has faced, people refuse to take it seriously or recognise it as a positive movement out of fear of being accused of hating men. In 2014 Emma delivered a speech in the United Nations Headquarters in New York.
“The more I spoke about feminism, the more I realized that fighting for women’s rights has too often become synonymous with man hating. If there is one thing I know for certain is that this has to stop.”
In the same year, Watson was appointed as a UN Ambassador and launched the UN’s HeForShe campaign, which was created to try and involve men in Feminism, in the hope they would see it as an inclusive movement rather than exclusive.
In September 2016, Emma delivered another speech at the UN Headquarters in New York. In light of the recent Brock Turner case, Emma’s speech was about equality in University, as well as sexual assault on campus. In this speech she questioned why we are told that sexual violence is not a form of violence. As well as this she stated that this will be many young people’s first time living on their own and they need to be shown equality and that the safety of their students against sexual assault needs to be prioritised.
Of course, The Sun had something to say about this. Columnist Rod Liddle took it upon himself to write a column slating Emma’s speech, calling it “whining, leftie, PC crap”. Not before introducing her as Hermione Granger. Not only did his article highlight the need we have for Feminism, (because how dare an actress speak up on sexual violence), but it also reduced Emma, who has worked hard to become a UN Ambassador, to a character in Harry Potter. The article ends with a swipe at Angelina Jolie, a fellow UN Ambassador, saying “I suppose they got Emma in because Angelina Jolie is a bit tied up at the moment.” As Jolie is currently going through a divorce.
The Sun
People, naturally, were outraged by this article, calling it “poor and offensive journalism”. Sophie Turner, who plays Sansa Stark in Game of Thrones also stood up and said that “Emma has more class, intelligence & eloquence in her little finger than you have in your whole body”.
I personally think that more celebrities should use their fame and platform to speak out on social issues such as Feminism without having to wake up the next morning and see tabloids write poorly written articles slating them. People need to stop associating feminism with man hating and see it for the positive movement it really is.
Main image by UN Women Flickr
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