On September 20th, Emma Watson took a stand and spoke at the United Nations for gender equality. She didn’t just speak about how women are paid less or how they don’t have the same opportunities as men in certain countries, but she talked about gender equality. The equality of both sexes whether that be in what they are paid, what opportunities they are offered, and how they want to behave.
As a little girl I grew up with the harsh words that I would never amount to what my male counterpart would. I started dressing like a boy, acting like a boy, even stopped being friends with my female friends so I could be with the boys, and hid my love of the color pink, dolls, and who I truly was. Once I hit the fifth grade and was taken away from those cruel words I realized that none of that was true, I could be who I was, a girl, and still succeed and be what I wanted to be. This is the reason I call myself a feminist and I know people judge me for that; I know people think less of me because of that one word. It’s not because they hate women or think that men are better, but it’s because they don’t know the meaning of the word feminist. They associate the word with man hate. I don’t hate men, never have, and never will. I see so many posts on social media, Facebook, Twitter, and most of all Tumblr, where women are saying that they will never be a feminist because they want equality for both men and women, not for women to have more rights. This is where ignorance plays a part. Feminism means “the advocacy of women’s rights on the grounds of political, social, and economic equality to men.” Nowhere does it say that women should be treated better than men. I would never wish that on anyone.
Women are only half of the population that is treated unfairly because of their gender; men are, too. Emma Watson really stressed in her speech how unfairly men are treated by society. Men feel that they have to be “manly” and if they aren’t good at sports or aren’t controlling, they are less of a man. If boys are sensitive or like to dress fashionably, they must be gay. When in reality, they are probably only trying to be themselves or want to look a certain way. Watson said in her speech, “Men, I would like to give this opportunity to extend your formal invitation. Gender equality is your issue, too.” She’s not only asking women to take a stand but for men to as well because a problem is never going on end with only half of a population. It takes everyone to get something done.
HeForShe is a campaign started by the United Nations not for women’s rights, but for everyone’s rights. They want women to be able to be paid based on how hard they work not because of their sex; they want boys to be able to express themselves in whatever way they choose even if others think that its “girly”. Right now, 200 million girls are missing from this Earth, not because they were kidnapped, but simply because they weren’t born. It’s because places like China and India, where girls aren’t as good as males, are aborted, murdered, and abandoned by their parents to die. Many times this is because they believe girls hold the burden of dowry and can’t provide for the family. Why should the bride’s family have to pay the groom to marry their daughter? Because she’s a girl who can’t provide the family anything besides children? We have to educate people so they realize that women can go to school and get a job to earn money to feed her family.
In a perfect world, boys wouldn’t hear things like “You throw like a girl”, women wouldn’t have to start hashtags on Twitter like #yesallwomen in support of female rape victims who are told their rape didn’t count because they were dressed a certain way or were drunk, therefore they were “asking for it”. In a perfect world, songs like “Blurred Lines” by Robin Thicke wouldn’t exist because yes means YES and the lines of consent are never blurry, no matter what kind of condition someone is in. Guys wouldn’t have to push back their tears because it makes them look “sensitive” or “weak”. Girls who want to be educated but can’t because they won’t stand up for themselves in fear that they will be attacked like Malala Yousafzai was, will be educated. In a perfect world, a child won’t be loved less or treated worse by their parents because they aren’t the “right” gender. Campaigns like HeForShe won’t exist because gender equality already exists.
by Harman Kaur
