The prevention of sexual assault involves both men and women

By: Katie Albertino

One speech and more than five million online views later, Emma Watson’s “HeForShe” campaign address has gone viral.

United Nations goodwill ambassador Watson is a proclaimed feminist. However, she made sure to clarify a misleading definition of the term “feminism” in her U.N. speech.

What she told her audience is that nowadays feminism has become associated with “man-hating,” and, in my opinion, it definitely has.

So many women fight for their rights, but they often attack men and blame them for inequality between genders when, in reality, (and Watson focuses on this throughout her lecture) it is just as much an issue for men as it is for women.

It is extremely common in today’s world for men to feel the need to hide their feelings and cover up their sensitivity in fear of losing their masculinity.

This needs to be stopped because no progress will be achieved if these gender-based mentalities continue to dominate society.

It’s about time that someone spoke out about this problem, and Watson went above and beyond with her strong, detailed presentation.

She commented on the fact that girls often remove themselves from certain sports in order to retain their femininity and that plenty of men suffer from mental illness and suicidal thoughts due to their pent up emotions.

I do not understand why this is seen as acceptable today and why men and women alike aren’t more eager to get together to make a change and finally establish equality between one another.

When I listened to Watson’s speech, I thought her emphasis on inequality affecting men was crucial. This movement should not solely focus on women, but should also include the male population because they are struggling just as much as we are, even if they aren’t voicing it as loudly.

Ultimately, it is our mission as human beings to stand up to this problem and tackle it head on, together.

It can be debated that the only reason this speech is receiving endless amounts of attention is because Watson is famous and that in turn gives her a louder voice than others being heard, but I view this as a positive.

She is expressing views that others hold close to their hearts, and because she is a celebrity these views are being heard louder and with greater impact.

In the end, what’s wrong with that?

It is benefitting those who have wanted to see change for so long, and it is even encouraging people to become involved in the movement.

In a recent quote, Watson stated she feels that young girls are told they have to be fragile, when in reality she identifies much more with being a warrior and a fighter. That is what we as women have to see ourselves as, warriors, who are brave enough to take this task upon our shoulders and push on through the struggle, inviting men to fight with us.