Emma Watson has launched an equality campaign called “HeForShe” at a United Nations conference. The global campaign aims to get 100,000 men and boys involved in the fight to achieve gender equality. In a speech at the United Nations on Monday, the British actress warned that feminism was being wrongly associated with man-hating and called on men around the world to stand up for gender equality. The U.N. Women Goodwill Ambassador, together with U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, was at the United Nations headquarters in New York to launch the campaign. In her speech, she also drew on her personal experiences: “When I was 8, I was called bossy because I wanted to direct a play we would put on for our parents. At 14, I started to be sexualized by certain elements of the media. At 15, my girlfriends started dropping out of sports teams because they didn’t want to appear masculine. At 18, my male friends were unable to express their feelings.” Cautioning that the fight for women’s rights was becoming “too synonymous with man-hating,” she reminded the audience,“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.” The speech swiftly went viral on the Internet, inspiring celebrities like comedienne Amy Poehler to post messages of support on social media. (SD-Agencies |