Emma Watson: Gender equality is your issue too (speech launching HeForShe, United Nations Headquarters, New York; UN Women, 20 September 2014)

Emma Watson · 20 Sept 2014

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Every claim below was made in this piece, quoted word for word and numbered in the order the piece makes them, so you can read it there rather than take our word for it. The sentence above each quote is our reading of the claim, not their wording. Each quote was checked against a stored copy of the page at build time; where the two differ, the quote is the fact.

Our reading
Fighting for women's rights has too often been equated with man-hating, and that has to stop

Their wordsthe more I have spoken about feminism the more I have 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.
Our reading
What matters about feminism is the idea and ambition behind it, not the word

Their wordsAnd if you still hate the word—it is not the word that is important but the idea and the ambition behind it.
Our reading
Men are imprisoned by gender stereotypes too, and freeing them would change things for women as a natural consequence

Their wordsWe don’t often talk about men being imprisoned by gender stereotypes but I can see that that they are and that when they are free, things will change for women as a natural consequence.
Our reading
Gender should be perceived on a spectrum, not as two opposing sets of ideals

Their wordsBoth men and women should feel free to be sensitive. Both men and women should feel free to be strong… It is time that we all perceive gender on a spectrum not as two opposing sets of ideals.

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