On September 20th, 2014, Emma Watson made a now viral speech at the UN HeForShe event. The HeForShe campaign was set up by UN Women to activate and emphasize the importance of male involvement in the fight for gender equality. Watson’s speech was undoubtedly the most noted part of the event. She stated:
“In 1995, Hilary Clinton made a famous speech in Beijing about women’s rights. Sadly many of the things she wanted to change are still a reality today. But what stood out for me the most was that only 30 per cent of her audience were male. How can we affect 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.”
Emma Watson was, in all honesty the driving force behind the campaign going viral (although I guess that’s a primary reason such events have celebrity spokespeople at all). However, she isn’t the only celebrity aligning with the cause. Many male stars have spoken up (or rather, “pictured” up) since her speech on their twitter accounts, including Harry Styles, Logan Lerman, Tom Hiddleston, Chris Colfer, Simon Pegg and many more. Jack Howard from the YouTube comedy duo Jack and Dean (responsible for the song, “Consent”) posted a video identifying as a feminist and Joseph Gorden-Levitt even included an episode in his famous HitRecord collaborative program on the topic of feminism.
My initial reaction to this campaign was a positive one. I was proud of UN Women for creating something so recognized and was pleased with the response it was getting. I am always going to stand behind something that elevates the feminist cause.
However, that was before I read a post written by Australian feminist and spokesperson Clemintine Ford. She posted a rather interesting response to the HeForShe campaign that helped me realize it isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. Despite the recognition it has received, I agree that I’m not sure it makes any sense to dedicate an entire campaign about gender equality to men. It reminds me of constantly defending men whenever anyone asks me about being a feminist. I always get the standard “You hate men?” questions and I always, always have to explain that I don’t. This ultimately results in the conversation being about men, not women. Again. I just have the nagging feeling that this whole campaign is a big banner saying “Feminism: women need men’s help to do it right!”The campaign even resulted in Iceland’s Foreign Minister, Gunnar Bragi, to announce that his country and Suriname would convene a conference to talk about gender equality at which only men would be present. Bragi said: “We want to bring men and boys to the table on gender equality in a positive way. Iceland and Suriname will convene a “Barbershop” conference in January 2015 where men will discuss gender equality with other men, with a special focus on addressing violence against women. This will be a unique conference as it will be the first at the United Nations that we bring together only men leaders to discuss gender equality.”
How could an all male panel be a step in the right direction? The issues they’d discuss would undoubtedly affect women and we’ve seen how effectively issues that impact women (like reproductive rights) are addressed when change-makers are predominately men. It seems to add insult to injury to talk about issues that impact women’s lives without including them or allowing them the capacity to create change.
However, maybe this situation is different. Maybe these men have recognized that they need to claim gender equality as an issue that impacts them and requires their action in tandem with women. And, in fact, since announcing the “Barbershop” conference, in response to criticism from both men and women alike, Bragi has announced that there will indeed be women present at the conference. How many women will be present and what their roles will be in the conference is still unclear, but the fact that the conference won’t solely be a conversation among men is reassuring.
While there are aspects of HeForShe that I find questionable and rather unnecessary, it’s undeniable that this campaign sparked an interest in women’s rights in a vast array of people and generated celebrity representation for feminist issues in a positive light. It’s unfortunate that we need a celebrity to garner attention for women’s rights, but its viral success is undeniable. I just hope that the UN and UN Women know what they’re doing and can take the energy and excitement surrounding this campaign and run with it.
