Emma Watson, most widely known as Hermione Granger from the Harry Potter movies, now has something new for which to be remembered. Watson has been nominated multiple times to be a representative at the United Nations and now has decided to speak out regarding women’s equality. Watson is taking a stance for women’s justice and will hopefully spark a movement to get more people thinking about women’s equality.

The dictionary definition of a feminist is the advocacy of women’s rights on the grounds of political, social and economic equality to men. One of Watson’s key points from her speech was the fact that fewer women are associating themselves as feminists because the term has developed a “man hater” stigma. Now more than ever, it is necessary for men to be supportive of women and to become feminists because if there are more men, it would be harder to tag feminists as man haters.

HeforShe is a campaign designed to get more men interested in becoming feminists. When feminism first became popular, it was mostly women working for women’s rights. Now there are more men joining the movement and we are not just fighting for women’s rights — we are arguing for gender equality.

Many presidents, celebrities and other world leaders have spoken up about women’s equality and it’s a great thing to see so many people are concerned about how women in this country are treated. Equality among all different people is something this country has been working toward for many years and it is surprising and sad that we are still working on fighting the battle.

Being a feminist is not being a “man-hater.” Being a feminist is being someone who believes that every person should share equal rights. It is wonderful to see that celebrities who are positive figures in the public eye are speaking out for women’s equality and doing what seems to be the most difficult thing to do — getting men to become feminists.

However, this will be an uphill battle. In order for men to become feminists, women must not be afraid to speak out about being a feminist. Being a feminist is not a derogatory term. It does not mean that you hate men. Being a feminist is not something that any woman should be afraid of being called. It is something they should be proud of being — something people of every gender should be proud of becoming. 

People are coming together from all over the world — and have been for many years — to fight for women’s equality. There will be no stopping until we are all equal. Women are not asking to be treated better than men or to have any privileges — they are simply asking to have equal treatment.

Such a basic request made by the gender which comprises half of our nation and half of our world must be met swiftly. There is no longer any room for archaic excuses of the old world order. Women live in the same world as men and perform more and more of the same tasks.

As Americans, we are starting the battle for feminism, but the intention is to some day spread feminism all over the globe. Think of a world where women in the Middle East or China can have equal rights to men. We have the capability to change the world with our voices and our support for an issue, but all of that means nothing if we do not have the voice to fight for what we want.

The changes must begin at home. If we are unable to set the example in our own nation, then we will never have even a glimmer of hope for bettering the lives of women beyond our borders.