Shawn Kelley | Arresto momentum Hermione

A Vet-ted Mind | Emma Watson’s U.N. speech was well-intentioned, but it fell short of truly game-changing

By Shawn Kelley 10/01/14 10:43pm

E m ma Watson gave a speec h to the United Nations on Sept. 20 on behalf of the U.N. Women’s HeForShe campaign. Since then, her speech has garnered a plethora of attention, mostly positive.

“Game-changing,” enthused Vanity Fair . People magazine praised it as “powerful.”

Yet how game-changing was it, really?

The more I’ve thought about this and reflected on what was both said and not said, the more critical I’ve become. Initially I met her speech with applause. Now, I feel it was an inspired — yet hardly novel — speech with many issues.

While I appreciate Watson’s candor, and don’t wish to take away from her experiences, I scarcely feel that a rich, Caucasian actress from a wealthy, developed nation such as Britain is the best spokesperson for women’s issues on equality. Yes, Emma Watson brings celebrity and media attention, but by making women like her, Hillary Clinton and Angelina Jolie the spokespeople for these causes, we heedlessly claim that the only voices worth listening to belong to privileged white women.

I’ve also taken issue with the name of the campaign itself: HeForShe. If we are talking about equality, then why name the campaign in a way that essentially denotes that women are reliant upon men? Perhaps “HeAndShe” would’ve sent a better message of solidarity.

On that note, I am also disconcerted with the fact that while Watson herself remarked, “It is time that we all perceive gender on a spectrum, instead of two sets of opposing ideals,” her entire speech conformed to this very notion. The issue at stake is one of gender equality. By saying “HeForShe,” the true gender spectrum is being completely ignored for compositions of those two poles.

In Watson’s favor, however, are her comments regarding “masculinity.” In my opinion, the most relevant part of her speech was: “I’ve seen men made fragile and insecure by a distorted sense of what constitutes male success.” This ties into the entire issue of gender equality. Too much time is spent on solving the symptoms of gender inequality — such as fair pay and equal access — when nearly none is spent on trying to fundamentally alter the root cause.

This is even reflective in how media covers the issues of gender equality. They praise a male college football player for openly coming out. A female who rises through the ranks of a traditionally male institution is recognized as being a “pioneer.” Yet we wouldn’t even take note of these events if gender equality was a reality.

Also, greater care must be taken in who and what we choose to represent as gender inequality. The issue that Watson’s friend, who was criticized for being “too muscly,” faces is quite insignificant when compared to that of a woman who is kidnapped from her school to be sold in the human trafficking industry or a male being stabbed, shot and run over by a car for choosing to wear women’s clothing. We need to call into question the roles of gender, race and class structures which lead to these inequalities. As Watson puts it: “If we stop defining each other by what we are not, and start defining ourselves by who we are, we can all be freer.”

Watson also implies that men don’t participate because we haven’t been formally invited. One does not have to “be invited” to the discourse of gender equality to participate. I believe one of the biggest ways to have more males participate is not by making us “feel welcome,” but rather, by stirring interest and demonstrating how it affects us. Look at the composition of any class at Penn dealing with gender studies and you will see that while men are invited, very few participate. Something needs to be done to address this issue and get more men involved.

I agree wholeheartedly with the purpose behind Watson’s speech. There are fundamental issues we face as a society that need to be addressed. These issues cannot only be undertaken by the individuals in question. It is time to upgrade HeForShe to WeForAl l.

Shawn Kelley is an LPS sophomore studying Japanese and history. His email address is skelley@sas.upenn.edu. “A Vet-ted Mind” usually appears every other Thursday.

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