“In my moments of doubt, I’ve told myself firmly, If not me, who?, If not now, When? Emma Watson Speaks for me and my generation — and here is why? Born in Paris in 1990, Emma Watson was first discovered in her role as Hermione Granger in Harry Potter movie series. She is the lead star in the new movie, Beauty and the Beast. Emma Watson ranked in the 26th place of TIME 100 list of the World’s Most Influential People.
What makes Emma Watson a great brand ambassador for our generation? She calls for true equality and stands for a change in attitude for the new generation of social advocate and global citizen. Emma Watson redefined the true meaning of “Feminism. ” She also launched the first ever “feminist book club,” called “Our Shared Shelf” and meetings will be conducted through a group on Goodreads.
In July 2014, Emma Watson was named the UN Women Goodwill Ambassador, a period she described as one of the changing points in her life. The world saw how young Emma evolved from being the incredibly smart Hermione Granger in Harry Potter to now an ambassador of a very serious Gender Equality. She immediately began promoting education for women traveling to countries such as Bangladesh, Zambia and many others — demanding the participation of men in achieving Gender Equality — through the HerforShe campaign.
In September of that year, Emma delivered a speech at the United Nations Headquarters in New York City to launch her new HeForShe campaign, in which she spoke about how, at an early age, she was known to be ‘bossy’ instead of a ‘perfectionist’, a trait that should not even be present in a boy. She addressed how at the age of 14, she was ‘sexualized by certain elements of the media’ for a poster of a film that had released that year. Although she had received threats after making that speech, it drove her to work harder to achieve her cause. She stood by her defiance of ‘man-hating’ and declared for it to stop. The HeForShe is a campaign for the advancement of women initiated by UN Women. Its goal is to engage men and boys as agents of change by encouraging them to take action against negative inequalities faced by women and girls.
Since then, Emma Watson has been involved in always trying to spread love and kindness amongst the people of the world, whether it being, hiding free books in the London tube stations or the New York City subways stations, to a recent video question seminar with fans at the Grand Central Station.
“I’m inviting you to step forward, to be seen, and to ask yourself.. If not me, Who? If not now, when? The reality is, if we do nothing, it will take 75 years, or for me to be 100, before women can expect to be paid the same as men for the same work,” she said in her United Nations, HeforShe address.
Notwithstanding, the above statement is precisely why Emma Watson is truly why she speaks for me and my Generation.
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Written by: Anahita Kaul
About GC4W: The Global Connections for Women Foundation is not-for-profit charity organization that believes in women and girls — and their rights to create new opportunities for themselves and their communities.
