Watson’s speech to the UN a first step towards gender equality

Emma Watson, a woman’s rights ambassador, has been all over the news with her speech at the UN in September in support of the HeforShe campaign, an invitation encouraging men to join feminism. Men do need to join the fight for gender equality in order to make significant changes to society, and the HeForShe campaign is a step in the right direction, but it is only a start.

Since women have the right to vote, many tend to assume that the battle for women’s rights is over, as if having the right to vote automatically creates gender equality. Some people equate feminists with man-hating radicals, but feminism is actually the advocacy of social, political and economic equality for women.

Advancing women’s rights should be an issue for anyone because casual sexism is harmful to all genders, whether it’s the stereotype that men must be stoic and aggressive to be considered manly, the wage gap or the extreme violation of young women’s bodies with the recent nude photo leaks.

Watson said to men, “Gender equality is your problem too,” and “If men don’t have to be aggressive in order to be accepted, women wouldn’t feel compelled to be submissive.”

The stereotype that men must be manly and unwavering hurts both men and women. Men are told to not communicate or show their feelings and redirect emotions in aggression. Women learn to fear this aggression and try to avoid setting off a rage. If this manly ideal was broken down, men could be more open in their communication of their feelings, which would be healthy for both men and women.

Moreover, women are only paid on average 78 cents to a man’s dollar. The wage gap is present in nearly every profession and has a worse effect on women of color as well as older women. According to the Institute for Women’s Policy Research, if we continue our current rate of growth for women’s wages, it will take nearly 50 years for women to earn equal pay.

Closing the wage gap would increase the standard of living for everyone, regardless of gender. If women earn the same amount as men, they can contribute more and better support themselves, whether it’s medical bills, buying meals, or insurance. It benefits any household supported by a woman, whether it’s a mother, wife or a roommate.

Some men only see feminism as an attack and have taken offense with Watson’s statement. For example, a group called Rantic using 4chan, a popular online bulletin board, threatened to release alleged nude photos of Watson. Luckily, the threat turned out to be fake, but the users’ casual use of sexual exploitation to attempt to destroy her career is reflective of a larger issue: Women’s bodies are seen as something to be used against them.

It’s not a new phenomenon, it has happened to thousands of young women, not just celebrities. And it keeps happening. For example, the recent hack of a third-party app called Snapsaved, which saves Snapchat pictures, leaked 90,000 photos. The target of the attack was compromising photos and since most users are between 13 and 17, these hackers are distributing child pornography, an offense punishable by a minimum five years sentence.

These women’s bodies were violated publicly and without their permission. Steps should be taken to teach men or anyone else to never participate in sexual offenses, rather than shame women for sending these photos using online media.

Health classes in school should explicitly explain consent, not only in sex, but toward a woman's body in general. What she chooses to do with her body, including how it’s presented in photos, is her choice and how she shares it is private. The repercussions for women can range from alienation from friends, harassment and in some cases suicide. Leaked nude photos should be treated as a sex crime and should have legal consequences.   

Men and many women need to accept that sexism is a frighteningly common occurrence that needs to be fixed. The sooner we all come to this realization, the sooner we can do something about it. Feminism won’t threaten men’s rights; that goes against everything the movement stands for: equality.

Whether or not the reactions were negative or positive, Watson’s speech stirred up debate and hopefully injected at least some men with the same desire for equality. Women can’t create change on their own; all genders need to give women their support. As a whole, we need look in depth into into the many issues of ingrained sexism, especially the sexual shaming of women who deserve our sympathy for having their privacy stripped away.