No doubt, it’s a sign of the times that Emma Watson — best known for playing Hermione in the popular Harry Potter films — has been heralded as “controversial” for saying this:
“Fighting for women’s rights has too often become synonymous with man-hating.”
Watson is a goodwill ambassador for the United Nations, and she delivered these words as part of a new campaign aimed at getting men involved in preventing violence against women.
We suspect that Watson speaks for a great many women — women who don’t want their opportunities limited because of their sex, but who also do not regard their fathers, brothers, husbands and boyfriends as enemies.
Indeed, if Watson is right, many of these men have helped advance a genuine feminism without even knowing it. “My life is a sheer privilege because my parents didn’t love me less because I was born a daughter,” she said.
“My school did not limit me because I was a girl. My mentors didn’t assume I would go less far because I might give birth to a child one day. These influencers were the gender-equality ambassadors that made [me] who I am today.”
Watson called these people “inadvertent feminists” and said we need more of them.
These are refreshing words, with the emphasis on expanding opportunity rather than waging gender war. But let’s also give credit where credit is due: Our good friends over at the Independent Women’s Forum have been pushing much the same message for years.
Thanks to Emma Watson, it may now get a much wider audience.