Emma Watson HeForShe Speech at the United Nations | UN Women 2014

"Today, we are launching a campaign called HeForShe. I am reaching out to you before we need your help. We want to end gender inequality and to do this, we need everyone involved. This is the first campaign of its kind at the UN. We want to try to galvanize as many men and boys as possible to be advocates for change and we don't just want to talk about it. We want to try and make sure that it's tangible."

"I was appointed as Goodwill Ambassador for U.N. Women six months ago and the more I've spoken about feminism, the more I have realized that fighting for women's rights has too often become synonymous with man-hating. If there is one thing I know for certain, it is that this has to stop."

"for the record, feminism, by definition, is the belief that men and women should have equal rights and opportunities. It is the theory of the political, economic and social equality of the sexes. I started questioning gender-based assumptions a long time ago."

"When I was 8, I was confused about being called 'bossy' because I wanted to direct the plays that we would put on for our parents. But the boys were not. When at 14, I started to be sexualized by certain elements of the media, when at 15, my girlfriends started dropping out of their beloved sports teams, because they didn't want to appear 'muscle-y,' when at 18, my males friends were unable to express their feelings, I decided that I was a feminist. And this seems uncomplicated to me. But my recent research has shown me that feminism has become an unpopular word."

"Women are choosing not to identify as feminists. Apparently, I am among the ranks of women whose expressions are seen as too strong, 'too aggressive,' isolating and anti-men, unattractive, even. Why has the word become such an uncomfortable one?" 

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"I am from Britain and I think it is right that I am paid the same as my male counterparts. I think it is right that I should be able to make decisions about my own body, I think [applause break] ... I think it is right that women be involved on my behalf in the policies and the decisions that affect my life. I think it is right that socially, I am afforded the same respect as men."

"But sadly, I can say that there is no one country in the world where all women can expect to receive these rights. No country in the world can yet say that they have achieved gender equality. These rights, I consider to be human rights but I am one of the lucky ones, my life is a sheer privilege because my parents didn't love me less because I was born a daughter. My school did not limit me because I was a girl. My mentors didn't assume that I would go less far because I might give birth to a child one day. These influencers are the gender equality ambassadors that made me who I am today."

"They may not know it, but they are the inadvertent feminists who are changing the world today. We need more of those and if you still hate the word, it is not the word that is important. It's the idea and the ambition behind it. Because not all women have received the same rights that I have. In fact, statistically, very few have been."

"In 1997, Hillary Clinton made a famous speech in Beijing about women's rights. Sadly, many of the things that she wanted to change are still true today. But what stood out for me the most was that less than 30 percent of the audience were male. How can we affect change in the world when only half of it is invited or feel welcome to participate in the conversation?"

"Men, I would like to take this opportunity to extend your formal invitation." [Applause break] "Gender equality is your issue too. Because to date, I've seen my father's role as a parent being valued les by society despite my needing his presence, as a child, as much as my mother's. I've seen young men suffering from mental illness, unable to ask for help, for fear it would make them less of a men—or less of a man. In fact, in the U.K., suicide is the biggest killer of men, between 20 to 49, eclipsing road accidents, cancer and coronary heart disease. I've seen men made fragile and insecure by a distorted sense of what constitutes male success. Men don't have the benefits of equality, either."

"We don't want to talk about men being imprisoned by gender stereotypes but I can see that they are. When they are free, things will change for women as a natural consequence. If men don't have to be aggressive, women won't be compelled to be submissive. If men don't need to control, women won't have to be controlled."

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"It is time that we all see gender as a spectrum instead of two sets of opposing ideals. We should stop defining each other by what we are not and start defining ourselves by who we are. We can all be freer and this is what HeForShe is about. It's about freedom. I want men to take up this mantle so their daughters, sisters and mothers can be free from prejudice but also so their sons have permission to be vulnerable and human, too and in doing so, be a more true and complete version of themselves."

"You might think, 'Who is this Harry Potter girl? What is she doing at the U.N.?' And it's a really good question—I've been asking myself at the same thing. All I know is that I care about this problem and I want to make it better. And having seen what I've seen and given the chance, I feel my responsibility to say something. Statesman Edmund Burke said all that is needed for the forces of evil to triumph is for good men and women to do nothing."

"In my nervousness for this speech and my moments of doubt, I've told myself firmly, 'If not me, who? If not now, when?' If you have similar doubts when opportunities are presented to you, I hope that those words will be helpful because the reality is, if we do nothing, it will take 75 years or for me, to be nearly 100, before women can expect to be paid the same as men for the same work—15.5 million girls will be married in the next 16 years as children and at current rates, it won't be until 2086 before all rural African girls can have a secondary education."

"If you believe in equality, you might be one of those inadvertent feminists that I spoke of earlier and for this, I applaud you. We are struggling for a uniting word but the good news is that we have a uniting movement. It is called HeForShe. I am inviting you to step forward to be seen and to ask yourself, 'If not me, who? If not now, when?' Thank you very, very much."

今天，我們發起這項名為「HeForShe」的活動。我向你們伸出求援的手，因為這項行動需要你的幫助。我們希望能終結性別不平等，而要能成功，我們需要所有人的參與。這是聯合國第一次發起這類活動，我們希望能帶動男人們和男孩們，成為這項改變的推手，越多人越好；而我們不打算只是空口白話，我們希望能有實質的行動。六個月前我被聯合國任命為女性親善大使，每每談論起女性主義時，我發現爭取女權常常成為「厭男」的同義詞。而我非常確定，我們必須停止這樣定義女性平等。女權主義，是相信男人和女人應該享有同等權利與機會，兩性在政治、經濟和社會地位上都平等。我從很久以前就開始質疑，以性別為準對人做出的論斷。八歲時，我不懂為什麼想要導演學校裡呈現給家長看的舞台劇，會讓我被認為「專橫」，但男孩們卻不會被如此認為。十四歲時，媒體開始戴上有色眼鏡看待我部分的特質；十五歲時，我的女生好友們開始停止參加她們熱愛的運動，因為她們不想要變得「滿身肌肉」；十八歲時，我的男性友人們無法表達他們的真實感覺。因為這些事情，我決定要做一個女性主義者，對我來說這非常單純，但最近我發現女性主義成為了一個不受歡迎的字眼。許多女性自認不是女性主義者，而身為女性的一分子，我所表達的立場被認為太過強烈、太激進、孤立女性而且厭男，甚至被認為不具有吸引力（此處有一些雙關，同時指立場和她本身）。為什麼女性主義這個字成為讓人如此不舒服的一個字呢？我來自英國，我認為我和男性應該同工同酬，我認為我有權為自己的身體做決定，我認為在會影響我的政策被制定時，應該有女性在場代表我，我認為在社會上，我和男性應該受到同等尊重。然而，這個世界上目前沒有一個國家，能讓所有女性得到前述這些平等權利。沒有一個國家能夠自承已經做到性別平等。這些權利，我相信屬於人權，但我是少數能享有它們的幸運兒，而我目前所經歷的人生，仍是一種「特權」：我的父母並不因為我是女兒就愛我比較少，我的學校並沒有因為我是女孩而侷限我的發展，帶領我成長的人們，也沒有因為某天我會生兒育女，而認為我的成就會比較差。這些對我影響深遠的人們，正是我人生中的性別平權大使，也才造就今天的我。他們或許不自知，但他們正是無意間改變這個世界的女權主義者，而我們需要更多這樣的人。如果你終究還是不喜歡女權主義這個字，請記得重要的不是這個字本身，是它所蘊含的意義和宏願；因為並不是所有女性都和我一樣享有平等權力，事實上，根據統計，只有很少的女性享有平權。1997年時，希拉蕊在北京發表了一篇有關女權的著名演說，但令人難過的是，許多她期望能改變的事情，至今依然存在。關於那場演說，有一件事情特別引起了我的注意：當時在場的聽眾只有30%為男性。我們如何能改變世界，如果只有其中一半的人覺得受到邀請來參與行動或對話呢？男性同胞們，我想要利用這個機會告訴你們，你們都正式受到這場行動的邀請。性別平等也是屬於你們的議題，因為即使在現代，我知道我的父親 -即便作為孩子的我需要他的陪伴如同需要我母親的陪伴 - 他身為雙親之一的角色，被社會認為比較不重要。我認識年輕的男性為精神疾病所苦，但無法尋求幫助，因為害怕會被認為不是正常人，或者「不是男人」。事實上，自殺是20至49歲英國男性頭號殺手，比車禍、癌症或心血管疾病都奪走更多生命。也有男性變得脆弱、感到不安全，因為他們所認知的「成功男性的典範」是扭曲的。男性也沒有獲得平權理當帶來的益處。我們不討論男性遭到性別刻板印象禁錮，但他們確實身受其害。如果他們能脫離這樣的束縛，那麼女性的處境也會自然而然的改變。如果男性不再需要具有侵略性，女性也就無需屈服。如果男性不再需要立於掌控的位置，那麼女性也無需被控制。從現在開始，我們應該將性別視為多元的光譜，而不是對立的兩套價值觀。我們應該停止用「我們不是什麼」來評斷他人，開始用「我們是什麼」來定義自己。我們都可以更加自由，而這就是 HeForShe 的目的：自由。我希望男性們站出來，讓他們的女兒、姐妹和母親可以不再為偏見所困，同時也讓他們的兒子可以露出脆弱、人性的一面，並由此成為更加真實而完整的自己。你可能在想：這個哈利波特電影裡的女孩是誰？她跑來聯合國幹嘛？這是個很好的問題，我也一直在問我自己。我只知道，我重視這個問題，而且我希望問題能有所改善。從我自己的經驗，到被給予了這個機會，我認為我有責任說些話。政治家 Edmund Burke 曾經說過，只要善良的男人和女人什麼都不做，邪惡就會獲勝。在我為準備這場演說感到緊張、或者自我懷疑時，我堅定的告訴自己：「捨我其誰？更待何時？」如果你在有機會為平權發聲時感到猶豫，我希望這些字句能幫助你堅定信心。因為事實是，如果我們什麼都不做，將要花上七十五年時間 - 對我來說就是將近百年 - 女性才能期望得到同工同酬；而一億五千五百萬名女孩，將在未來十六年間，在她們仍是孩子的時候，被嫁入其他家庭；而蠻荒非洲的女孩們，直到2086年，才有可能都受到中學教育。如果你相信平權，你可能就是我先前提過的，那些不自覺的女性主義者，我為你們喝彩。雖然我們無法對一個字有同樣的見解，但我們的行動是一致的，也就是 HeForShe 這場行動。我邀請你們挺身而出，並且問自己：「捨我其誰？更待何時？」謝謝。