Pathos in Emma Watson's Speech to the UN
Emma Watson in CommonLit.org
Today we are launching a campaign called for HeForShe. I am reaching out to you because
we need your help. We want to end gender inequality, and to do this, we need everyone
involved. This is the first campaign of its kind at the UN. We want to try to mobilize as many
men and boys as possible to be advocates for change. And, we don't just want to talk about it.
We want to try and make sure that it's tangible.
I was appointed as Goodwill Ambassador for UN Women six months ago. And, 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, it is that this
has to stop.
For the record, feminism by definition is the belief that men and women should have equal
rights and opportunities. It is the theory of political, economic and social equality of the
sexes.
I started questioning gender-based assumptions a long time ago. When I was 8, I was
confused for being called bossy because I wanted to direct the plays that we would put on for
our parents, but the boys were not. When at 14, I started to be sexualized by certain elements
of the media. When at 15, my girlfriends started dropping out of sports teams because they
didn't want to appear muscly. When at 18, my male friends were unable to express their
feelings.
I decided that I was a feminist, and this seemed uncomplicated to me. But my recent research
has shown me that feminism has become an unpopular word. Women are choosing not to
identify as feminists. Apparently, I'm among the ranks of women whose expressions are seen
as too strong, too aggressive, isolating, and anti-men. Unattractive, even.
Why has the word become such an uncomfortable one? I am from Britain, and I think it is
right I am paid the same as my male counterparts. I think it is right that I should be able to
make decisions about my own body. I think it is right that women be involved on my behalf in
the policies and decisions that will affect my life. I think it is right that socially, I am afforded
the same respect as men.
But sadly, I can say that there is no one country in the world where all women can expect to
see these rights. No country in the world can yet say that they achieved gender equality. These
rights, I consider to be human rights, but I am one of the lucky ones.
My life is a sheer privilege because my parents didn't love me less because I was born a
daughter. My school did not limit me because I was a girl. My mentors didn't assume that I
would go less far because I might give birth to a child one day. These influences were the
gender equality ambassadors that made me who I am today. They may not know it, but they
are the inadvertent feminists that are changing the world today. We need more of those.
And if you still hate the word, it is not the word that is important. It's the idea and the
ambition behind it, because not all women have received the same rights I have. In fact,
statistically, very few have.
In 1995, Hillary Clinton made a famous speech in Beijing about women's rights. sadly, many
of the things that she wanted to change are still true today. But what stood out for me the most
was that less than thirty percent of the audience were male. How can we effect change in the
world when only half of it is invited or feel welcome to participate in the conversation?
Men, I would like to take this opportunity to extend your formal invitation. Gender equality is
your issue, too. Because to date, I've seen my father's role as a parent being valued less by
society, despite my need of his presence as a child, as much as my mother's. I've seen young
men suffering from mental illness, unable to ask for help for fear it would make them less of a
man. In fact, in the UK, suicide is the biggest killer of men between 20 to 49, eclipsing road
accidents, cancer and coronary heart disease. I've seen men made fragile and insecure by a
distorted sense of what constitutes male success. Men don't have the benefits of equality,
either.
We don't often talk about men being imprisoned by gender stereotypes, but I can see that they
are, and that when they are free, things will change for women as a natural consequence. If
men don't have to be aggressive in order to be accepted, women won't feel compelled to be
submissive. If men don't have to control, women won't have to be controlled.
Both 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, instead of two sets of opposing
ideals. If we stop defining each other by what we are not, and start defining ourselves by who
we are, we can all be freer, and this is what HeForShe is about. It's about freedom.
I want men to take up this mantle so that their daughters, sisters, and mothers can be free
from prejudice, but also so that their sons have permission to be vulnerable and human too,
reclaim those parts of themselves they abandoned, and in doing so, be a more true and
complete version of themselves.
You might be thinking, "Who is this Harry Potter girl, and what is she doing speaking at the
UN?" And, it's a really good question. I've been asking myself the same thing.
All I know is that I care about this problem, and I want to make it better. And, having seen
what I've seen, and given the chance, I feel it is my responsibility to say something.
Statesman Edmund Burke said, "All that is needed for the forces of evil to triumph is for good
men and women to do nothing."
In my nervousness for this speech and in my moments of doubt, I told myself firmly, "If not
me, who? If not now, when?" If you have similar doubts when opportunities are presented to
you, I hope those words will be helpful. Because the reality is that if we do nothing, it will
take seventy-five years, or for me to be nearly 100, before women can expect to be paid the
same as men for the same work. 15.5 million girls will be married in the next 16 years as
children. And at current rates, it won't be until 2086 before all rural African girls can have a
secondary education.
If you believe in equality, you might be one of those inadvertent feminists that I spoke of
earlier, and for this, I applaud you. We are struggling for a uniting word, but the good news
is, we have a uniting movement. It is called HeForShe. I invite you to step forward, to be seen
and to ask yourself, "If not me, who? If not now, when?"
Thank you very, very much.
we need your help. We want to end gender inequality, and to do this, we need everyone
involved. This is the first campaign of its kind at the UN. We want to try to mobilize as many
men and boys as possible to be advocates for change. And, we don't just want to talk about it.
We want to try and make sure that it's tangible.
I was appointed as Goodwill Ambassador for UN Women six months ago. And, 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, it is that this
has to stop.
For the record, feminism by definition is the belief that men and women should have equal
rights and opportunities. It is the theory of political, economic and social equality of the
sexes.
I started questioning gender-based assumptions a long time ago. When I was 8, I was
confused for being called bossy because I wanted to direct the plays that we would put on for
our parents, but the boys were not. When at 14, I started to be sexualized by certain elements
of the media. When at 15, my girlfriends started dropping out of sports teams because they
didn't want to appear muscly. When at 18, my male friends were unable to express their
feelings.
I decided that I was a feminist, and this seemed uncomplicated to me. But my recent research
has shown me that feminism has become an unpopular word. Women are choosing not to
identify as feminists. Apparently, I'm among the ranks of women whose expressions are seen
as too strong, too aggressive, isolating, and anti-men. Unattractive, even.
Why has the word become such an uncomfortable one? I am from Britain, and I think it is
right I am paid the same as my male counterparts. I think it is right that I should be able to
make decisions about my own body. I think it is right that women be involved on my behalf in
the policies and decisions that will affect my life. I think it is right that socially, I am afforded
the same respect as men.
But sadly, I can say that there is no one country in the world where all women can expect to
see these rights. No country in the world can yet say that they achieved gender equality. These
rights, I consider to be human rights, but I am one of the lucky ones.
My life is a sheer privilege because my parents didn't love me less because I was born a
daughter. My school did not limit me because I was a girl. My mentors didn't assume that I
would go less far because I might give birth to a child one day. These influences were the
gender equality ambassadors that made me who I am today. They may not know it, but they
are the inadvertent feminists that are changing the world today. We need more of those.
And if you still hate the word, it is not the word that is important. It's the idea and the
ambition behind it, because not all women have received the same rights I have. In fact,
statistically, very few have.
In 1995, Hillary Clinton made a famous speech in Beijing about women's rights. sadly, many
of the things that she wanted to change are still true today. But what stood out for me the most
was that less than thirty percent of the audience were male. How can we effect change in the
world when only half of it is invited or feel welcome to participate in the conversation?
Men, I would like to take this opportunity to extend your formal invitation. Gender equality is
your issue, too. Because to date, I've seen my father's role as a parent being valued less by
society, despite my need of his presence as a child, as much as my mother's. I've seen young
men suffering from mental illness, unable to ask for help for fear it would make them less of a
man. In fact, in the UK, suicide is the biggest killer of men between 20 to 49, eclipsing road
accidents, cancer and coronary heart disease. I've seen men made fragile and insecure by a
distorted sense of what constitutes male success. Men don't have the benefits of equality,
either.
We don't often talk about men being imprisoned by gender stereotypes, but I can see that they
are, and that when they are free, things will change for women as a natural consequence. If
men don't have to be aggressive in order to be accepted, women won't feel compelled to be
submissive. If men don't have to control, women won't have to be controlled.
Both 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, instead of two sets of opposing
ideals. If we stop defining each other by what we are not, and start defining ourselves by who
we are, we can all be freer, and this is what HeForShe is about. It's about freedom.
I want men to take up this mantle so that their daughters, sisters, and mothers can be free
from prejudice, but also so that their sons have permission to be vulnerable and human too,
reclaim those parts of themselves they abandoned, and in doing so, be a more true and
complete version of themselves.
You might be thinking, "Who is this Harry Potter girl, and what is she doing speaking at the
UN?" And, it's a really good question. I've been asking myself the same thing.
All I know is that I care about this problem, and I want to make it better. And, having seen
what I've seen, and given the chance, I feel it is my responsibility to say something.
Statesman Edmund Burke said, "All that is needed for the forces of evil to triumph is for good
men and women to do nothing."
In my nervousness for this speech and in my moments of doubt, I told myself firmly, "If not
me, who? If not now, when?" If you have similar doubts when opportunities are presented to
you, I hope those words will be helpful. Because the reality is that if we do nothing, it will
take seventy-five years, or for me to be nearly 100, before women can expect to be paid the
same as men for the same work. 15.5 million girls will be married in the next 16 years as
children. And at current rates, it won't be until 2086 before all rural African girls can have a
secondary education.
If you believe in equality, you might be one of those inadvertent feminists that I spoke of
earlier, and for this, I applaud you. We are struggling for a uniting word, but the good news
is, we have a uniting movement. It is called HeForShe. I invite you to step forward, to be seen
and to ask yourself, "If not me, who? If not now, when?"
Thank you very, very much.