If Not Me, Who? If Not Now, When?

You’ve probably heard about Emma Watson’s speech that she gave at the UN regarding Feminism and Equality. If not, watch the video below. I promise it is worth your time.

Let’s put aside Ms. Watson’s fame and celebrity status and just think about the words she said during this speech.

She begins by stating that the word Feminism has become hated and synonymous with bashing men.

I agree. Without thinking too deeply about it my knee jerk reaction to the word is a joke. It’s a description of a woman who is somewhat crazy, bitchy and hates men.

Now before you start poking me with your “pitchforks” let me finish.

She went on to describe what feminism means and that we might actually stand for what it believes in without even realizing it.

That’s when my “aha” moment happened.

In all my 32 years I have always thought that since I love fashion, romance and all the “girly” things in life that anything having to do with feminism had nothing to do with me. I knew from an early age that my strongest desire was to raise a family. I thought that since my aspiration in life was to stay at home, to be there mentally and physically for my husband and children that I was the opposite of a feminist. I just wasn’t that “type” of person. So in that line of thinking I never actually read up on what feminism meant, what it means to be a feminist and I only had a basic knowledge of its causes.

After hearing Emma describe, in her terms, what it means I realized that I was in my own way.

I believe in equal rights among the sexes. If a woman chooses to have a career outside of the home she should be able to pursue that and if a man wants to be the parent that stays home and takes care of his kids and emotionally supports his wife he should be able to without being ridiculed.

I feel that both men and women should have the right to express their emotions without fear of being made fun of. When you try to hide the emotions inside of you, it builds up over time and becomes a sort of poison that will only do you harm.

I feel it’s absurd that women get paid less for the same job a man performs. Just like it’s absurd for two people of the same sexes working the same job to get paid a different wage because the color of their skin.

As I sat and listened to her entire speech I felt that the #heforshe campaign touched not only on feminism but on the idea that we need to stop hating on each other (whether its through sex, race, or body size) and start lifting each other up. You know, all that Kumbaya crap 😉

But really, hating on each other, putting others down, does nothing to improve our lives. The sooner we acknowledge that and believe it as truth the better off we will be.

Whether your are a feminist, a body positive supporter, or just a spreader of love and peace we all want the same thing; Love and acceptance for who we are and the end of hatred to those who are different then us.

If you take anything away from her speech let it be that feminism is not a dirty word and on the flip side neither is the phrase “like a girl”. Watch this video below to see what I mean.