So this has been the week of Emma Watson, who gave an impassioned speech at the UN (full transcript here) about the responsibility of men to support and promote gender equality. The #HeForShe campaign launched by Watson gained plenty of traction with many celebrity men making public statements about being feminist allies.
“When I was 8, 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 sexualised 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 ‘muscle-y,’ when at 18, my male friends were unable to express their feelings, I decided that I was a feminist. And this seems uncomplicated to me. But my recent research has shown me that feminism has become an unpopular word.”
But of course as with any public stance on feminism, there were the detractors and the attackers – that’s the depressing thing about the world we live in. Threats were made – though this later appeared to be a hoax, which makes it no less problematic – to expose nude pictures of Watson as had happened with Jennifer Lawrence and others in recent weeks.
Then there were the belittlers, like the Telegraph which mentioned Watson’s fashion success in the same headline as her feminist speech (AT THE UN) and put up an article with a photo of her in red carpet glamour rather than the business suit she wore for the event.
But Watson’s words are important, all the more because she is the glamorous “Harry Potter girl” and has a certain degree of media power which she is working to use for good. Her speech was listened to all around the world, making it clear that equality isn’t just an issue for women, it’s about making society better for everyone.
“I want men to take up this mantle so their daughters, sisters and mothers can be free from prejudice but also so their sons have permission to be vulnerable and human, too and in doing so, be a more true and complete version of themselves.”
Elsewhere on the net this week –
Stephanie on No Award talks about Dementia Awareness Month, her father’s Alzeimers, and how important it is to talk about this stuff. Too often, the work of caring for family members is left silent and unacknowledged.
Neil Gaiman’s introduction to the new edition of Terry Pratchett’s non fiction writings, A Slip of the Keyboard, has been published in the Guardian and it’s magnificent – a rebuttal to Pratchett’s reputation as a jolly, magical and amusing person by celebrating his anger, and the power of rage to fuel a writing career as well as a life.
James Sutter on What Authors Owe Fans (or maybe George RR Martin IS your bitch…)
Kate Forsyth’s AMAZING fairy tale/historical epic novel Bitter Greens is finally being released in the US. I still believe that if it had been released internationally when it first came out, it would have scooped all the awards. Reeeeeead it.