Emma Watson HeForShe Speech at the United Nations | UN Women 2014

Your excellencies,

UN Secretary General,

President of the General Assembly,

Executive Director of UN Women,

and distinguished guests.

Today, we are launching
a campaign called He for She.

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 and galvanize
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've spoken about feminism,
the more I have 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 the political, economic,

and social equality of the sexes.

I started questioning gender based
assumptions a long time ago.

When I was eight, I was confused
about 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 their beloved 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 am 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 that 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--
- (raucous applause)

I think it is right
that women be involved,

on my behalf, in the policies
and the 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 receive these rights.

No country in the world
can yet say that they have

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.
- (hooting)

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,
with the Gender Equality Ambassadors

that made me who I am today...

they may not know it,
but they are the inadvertent feminists

who 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 that I have.

In fact, statistically,
very few have been.

In 1997, 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 30%

of the audience were male.

How can we affect change in the world
when only half of it is invited,

or feel welcomed to participate
in the conversation?

Men...

I would like to take this opportunity
to extend your formal invitation.

(applause)

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 needing 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 men--
or less of a man.

In fact, in the UK,
suicide is the biggest killer of men

between 20-49, 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 perceived
gender on a spectrum,

instead of two sets of opposing ideals.

(applause)

(Ms. Watson) 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 He for She 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?"

- (laughter)
- "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've told myself firmly,

"If not me, who?"

"If not now, when?"

If you have similar doubts
when opportunites are presented to you,

I hope that those words will be helpful

because...

the reality is that if we do nothing,
it will take 75 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 that we have

a uniting movement.

It is called He for She.

I am inviting you to step forward,
to be seen, and to ask yourself,

"If not me, who?
If not now, when?"

- Thank you very, very much.
- (applause)