WEBVTT
00:00:03.820 --> 00:00:05.554
Your excellencies,
00:00:06.227 --> 00:00:07.945
UN Secretary General,
00:00:09.217 --> 00:00:11.066
President of the General Assembly,
00:00:11.963 --> 00:00:14.322
Executive Director of UN Women,
00:00:15.111 --> 00:00:17.121
and distinguished guests.
00:00:19.015 --> 00:00:23.347
Today, we are launching
a campaign called He for She.
00:00:24.813 --> 00:00:27.392
I am reaching out to you
because we need your help.
00:00:29.162 --> 00:00:31.884
We want to end gender inequality,
00:00:32.594 --> 00:00:36.727
and to do this,
we need everyone involved.
00:00:38.203 --> 00:00:40.932
This is the first campaign
of its kind at the UN.
00:00:41.552 --> 00:00:45.879
We want to try and galvanize
as many men and boys as possible
00:00:45.879 --> 00:00:47.858
to be advocates for change.
00:00:48.731 --> 00:00:50.805
And we don't just want to talk about it.
00:00:51.327 --> 00:00:53.709
We want to try and make
sure that it's tangible.
00:00:56.042 --> 00:01:00.159
I was appointed as Goodwill Ambassador
for UN Women six months ago.
00:01:01.299 --> 00:01:05.667
And the more I've spoken about feminism,
the more I have realized
00:01:06.227 --> 00:01:09.987
that fighting for women's rights
has too often become
00:01:09.987 --> 00:01:12.713
synonymous with man-hating.
00:01:14.703 --> 00:01:18.420
If there is one thing I know for certain,
00:01:19.580 --> 00:01:22.463
it is that this has to stop.
00:01:24.065 --> 00:01:27.762
For the record,
Feminism, by definition,
00:01:28.662 --> 00:01:33.204
is the belief that men and women
should have equal rights
00:01:33.204 --> 00:01:34.865
and opportunities.
00:01:35.263 --> 00:01:39.789
It is the theory
of the political, economic,
00:01:40.099 --> 00:01:42.318
and social equality of the sexes.
00:01:44.672 --> 00:01:47.893
I started questioning gender based
assumptions a long time ago.
00:01:48.913 --> 00:01:53.875
When I was eight, I was confused
about being called "bossy"
00:01:54.435 --> 00:01:58.877
because I wanted to direct the plays
that we would put on for our parents.
00:01:59.587 --> 00:02:01.048
But the boys were not.
00:02:02.340 --> 00:02:06.949
When, at 14, I started to be sexualized
by certain elements of the media.
00:02:08.265 --> 00:02:13.242
When, at 15, my girlfriends started
dropping out of their beloved sports teams
00:02:13.572 --> 00:02:15.674
because they didn't want to appear muscly.
00:02:17.065 --> 00:02:22.572
When, at 18, my male friends
were unable to express their feelings...
00:02:24.262 --> 00:02:27.499
I decided that I was a feminist.
00:02:28.189 --> 00:02:30.283
And this seemed uncomplicated to me.
00:02:31.142 --> 00:02:36.109
But my recent research has shown me
that feminism has become
00:02:36.109 --> 00:02:37.819
an unpopular word.
00:02:40.125 --> 00:02:45.670
Women are choosing
not to identify as feminists.
00:02:47.988 --> 00:02:51.882
Apparently, I am among the ranks of women
00:02:52.202 --> 00:02:57.870
whose expressions are seen
as too strong, too aggressive,
00:02:59.210 --> 00:03:05.567
isolating, and anti-men.
Unattractive, even.
00:03:07.847 --> 00:03:12.610
Why has the word become
such an uncomfortable one?
00:03:15.160 --> 00:03:16.648
I am from Britain,
00:03:17.657 --> 00:03:22.399
and I think it is right that I am paid
the same as my male counterparts.
00:03:23.634 --> 00:03:28.774
I think it is right that I should be able
to make decisions about my own body.
00:03:30.096 --> 00:03:38.021
- I think--
- (raucous applause)
00:03:40.699 --> 00:03:43.939
I think it is right
that women be involved,
00:03:43.939 --> 00:03:48.958
on my behalf, in the policies
and the decisions that will affect my life.
00:03:50.319 --> 00:03:56.754
I think it is right that, socially,
I am afforded the same respect as men.
00:03:59.075 --> 00:04:04.585
But sadly, I can say
that there is no one country
00:04:04.685 --> 00:04:10.228
in the world where all women
can expect to receive these rights.
00:04:11.428 --> 00:04:15.655
No country in the world
can yet say that they have
00:04:15.655 --> 00:04:17.625
achieved gender equality.
00:04:19.372 --> 00:04:23.206
These rights...I consider
to be human rights,
00:04:23.916 --> 00:04:25.795
but I am one of the lucky ones.
00:04:26.838 --> 00:04:32.559
My life is a sheer privilege
because my parents didn't love me less
00:04:32.719 --> 00:04:35.201
- because I was born a daughter.
- (hooting)
00:04:35.537 --> 00:04:39.930
My school did not limit me
because I was a girl.
00:04:41.278 --> 00:04:45.372
My mentors didn't assume
that I would go less far
00:04:45.582 --> 00:04:48.136
because I might give birth
to a child one day.
00:04:50.037 --> 00:04:53.719
These influences,
with the Gender Equality Ambassadors
00:04:53.869 --> 00:04:56.090
that made me who I am today...
00:04:57.198 --> 00:05:00.963
they may not know it,
but they are the inadvertent feminists
00:05:00.963 --> 00:05:03.098
who are changing the world today.
00:05:04.190 --> 00:05:05.990
We need more of those.
00:05:06.668 --> 00:05:13.080
And if you still hate the word,
it is not the word that is important.
00:05:13.999 --> 00:05:17.654
It's the idea and the ambition behind it.
00:05:18.628 --> 00:05:23.169
Because not all women have
received the same rights that I have.
00:05:24.039 --> 00:05:29.158
In fact, statistically,
very few have been.
00:05:31.263 --> 00:05:35.692
In 1997, Hillary Clinton
made a famous speech in Beijing
00:05:35.692 --> 00:05:37.580
about women's rights.
00:05:37.980 --> 00:05:43.642
Sadly, many of the things that she wanted
to change are still true today.
00:05:45.436 --> 00:05:50.344
But what stood out for me the most
was that less than 30%
00:05:51.074 --> 00:05:53.719
of the audience were male.
00:05:55.708 --> 00:06:01.278
How can we affect change in the world
when only half of it is invited,
00:06:01.488 --> 00:06:04.755
or feel welcomed to participate
in the conversation?
00:06:06.770 --> 00:06:08.068
Men...
00:06:09.665 --> 00:06:15.497
I would like to take this opportunity
to extend your formal invitation.
00:06:16.438 --> 00:06:26.140
(applause)
00:06:27.855 --> 00:06:31.513
Gender equality is your issue too.
00:06:33.433 --> 00:06:37.106
Because, to date,
I've seen my father's role
00:06:37.106 --> 00:06:41.998
as a parent being valued less
by society, despite
00:06:41.998 --> 00:06:45.579
my needing his presence as a child
as much as my mother's.
00:06:46.413 --> 00:06:49.927
I've seen young men
suffering from mental illness,
00:06:50.117 --> 00:06:53.868
unable to ask for help,
for fear it would make them
00:06:54.428 --> 00:06:58.000
less of a men--
or less of a man.
00:06:59.402 --> 00:07:04.829
In fact, in the UK,
suicide is the biggest killer of men
00:07:05.089 --> 00:07:12.297
between 20-49, eclipsing road accidents,
cancer, and coronary heart disease.
00:07:14.174 --> 00:07:18.872
I've seen men made fragile
and insecure by a distorted sense
00:07:19.172 --> 00:07:22.570
of what constitutes male success.
00:07:23.848 --> 00:07:28.007
Men don't have
the benefits of equality either.
00:07:29.647 --> 00:07:33.802
We don't often talk about men
being imprisoned by gender stereotypes,
00:07:34.157 --> 00:07:36.751
but I can see that they are,
00:07:37.828 --> 00:07:41.629
and that when they are free,
things will change for women
00:07:42.119 --> 00:07:44.021
as a natural consequence.
00:07:45.512 --> 00:07:49.750
If men don't have to be aggressive
in order to be accepted,
00:07:50.240 --> 00:07:53.426
women won't feel
compelled to be submissive.
00:07:54.386 --> 00:07:59.066
If men don't have to control,
women won't have to be controlled.
00:08:00.466 --> 00:08:03.898
Both men and women
should feel free to be sensitive.
00:08:04.377 --> 00:08:08.011
Both men and women
should feel free to be strong.
00:08:09.066 --> 00:08:12.487
It is time that we all perceived
gender on a spectrum,
00:08:12.967 --> 00:08:16.613
instead of two sets of opposing ideals.
00:08:17.576 --> 00:08:25.048
(applause)
00:08:25.177 --> 00:08:28.426
(Ms. Watson) If we stop defining
each other by what we are not,
00:08:28.856 --> 00:08:33.930
and start defining ourselves
by who we are, we can all be freer.
00:08:35.019 --> 00:08:38.101
And this is what He for She is about.
00:08:39.478 --> 00:08:41.209
It's about freedom.
00:08:42.535 --> 00:08:46.377
I want men to take up this mantle,
so that their daughters,
00:08:46.377 --> 00:08:49.522
sisters, and mothers
can be free from prejudice.
00:08:49.822 --> 00:08:55.056
But also so that their sons have permission
to be vulnerable and human too,
00:08:55.966 --> 00:08:58.706
reclaim those parts
of themselves they abandoned,
00:08:59.143 --> 00:09:04.621
and, in doing so, be a more true
and complete version of themselves.
00:09:06.434 --> 00:09:09.750
You might be thinking,
"Who is this Harry Potter girl?"
00:09:09.750 --> 00:09:12.382
- (laughter)
- "And what is she doing
00:09:12.382 --> 00:09:15.519
- speaking at the UN?"
- And it's a really good question.
00:09:15.709 --> 00:09:18.042
I've been asking myself the same thing.
00:09:19.446 --> 00:09:24.054
All I know is that I care
about this problem, and I want
00:09:24.054 --> 00:09:25.494
to make it better.
00:09:26.137 --> 00:09:30.138
And having seen what I've seen,
and given the chance,
00:09:30.608 --> 00:09:34.745
I feel it is my responsibility
to say something.
00:09:36.559 --> 00:09:38.776
Statesman Edmund Burke said,
00:09:39.442 --> 00:09:43.487
"All that is needed
for the forces of evil to triumph
00:09:43.637 --> 00:09:47.352
is for good men and women
to do nothing."
00:09:49.830 --> 00:09:55.257
In my nervousness for this speech,
and in my moments of doubt,
00:09:56.387 --> 00:09:58.597
I've told myself firmly,
00:09:59.574 --> 00:10:02.067
"If not me, who?"
00:10:03.296 --> 00:10:05.810
"If not now, when?"
00:10:07.371 --> 00:10:11.832
If you have similar doubts
when opportunites are presented to you,
00:10:12.892 --> 00:10:15.178
I hope that those words will be helpful
00:10:17.068 --> 00:10:18.419
because...
00:10:19.758 --> 00:10:26.982
the reality is that if we do nothing,
it will take 75 years,
00:10:27.312 --> 00:10:32.259
or for me to be nearly 100,
before women can expect
00:10:32.259 --> 00:10:34.499
to be paid the same as men.
00:10:35.475 --> 00:10:36.864
For the same work.
00:10:37.961 --> 00:10:44.102
15.5 million girls will be married
in the next 16 years as children.
00:10:45.459 --> 00:10:53.053
And, at current rates, it won't be until
2086 before all rural African girls
00:10:53.153 --> 00:10:55.256
can have a secondary education.
00:10:58.397 --> 00:11:02.888
If you believe in equality,
you might be one of those
00:11:02.888 --> 00:11:06.160
inadvertent feminists
that I spoke of earlier.
00:11:06.920 --> 00:11:09.496
And, for this, I applaud you.
00:11:10.754 --> 00:11:17.267
We are struggling for a uniting word,
but the good news is that we have
00:11:17.267 --> 00:11:19.092
a uniting movement.
00:11:19.996 --> 00:11:21.779
It is called He for She.
00:11:23.794 --> 00:11:31.452
I am inviting you to step forward,
to be seen, and to ask yourself,
00:11:32.776 --> 00:11:38.665
"If not me, who?
If not now, when?"
00:11:40.212 --> 00:11:45.928
- Thank you very, very much.
- (applause)