Actress Emma Watson urges more men to fight for gender equality

LONDON | British actress Emma Watson urged more men and boys on Sunday to take a stand for women’s rights and be proud to be feminists in a bid to add momentum to a global campaign to unite men and women for gender equality.

Watson, 24, a goodwill ambassador for U.N. Women, used International Women’s Day to add impetus to the HeForShe campaign that was launched in September last year and encourages men and boys to join the fight for equal rights.

So far around 240,000 men have pledged their commitment online, according to the HeForShe website, including U.S. President Barack Obama and actor Matt Damon, but there is a target to mobilize one billion men and boys by July this year.

“There has been a ground swell of support but we need more men to take a stand for gender equality,” Watson told a discussion on gender equality at Facebook’s London headquarters.

“Men often think that feminism is a women’s word … but if you stand for gender equality, you are a feminist.”

Watson, who rose to fame as Hermione Granger in the Harry Potter films, said the campaign was not about men saving women and also called upon women to support the campaign.

“It’s uncomfortable and awkward for women to acknowledge there is a problem, but we need to understand we are complicit,” she said.

The actress said she was pleased with the response to the IMPACT 10X10X10 initiative, a one-year pilot project launched in January seeking commitments from governments, companies and universities on women’s empowerment and gender equality.

Several countries, including Sweden, the Netherlands and Sierra Leone, have backed the campaign, Watson said.

When asked about gender equality on a global scale, Watson praised the power of social media to allow girls and women to interact with others who can provide advice and support.

Audience members chosen by U.N. Women to attend the event submitted their stories online of what they had done to advance gender equality.

Jacob Anderson, 24, a Swedish designer, said he was an active supporter of women’s rights on online forums and social media.

“Gender equality should be talked about far more than it currently is … it doesn’t make sense that women and men don’t have equal rights,” Anderson told the Thomson Reuters Foundation at the event in London.

source: interaksyon.com

Emma Watson Is a Perfectionist

Emma Watson accepts nothing but the best.

The actress, 22, thanks her parents for the "very strong work ethics" they introduced to her in life.

"[They taught me to have] a love and respect for what you do, and [take] pride in it," she says in the U.K. edition of Marie Claire's February issue.

But Watson admits there's a little downside to having such strong drive.

"This is sort of irritating at times – I'm a bit OCD about perfectionism," she says. "I'm my own worst critic. I think that's really hard, but it also spurs me on. I always want to do better. I'm always striving towards the next thing."

But with maturity and experience, the actress has learned not to be as hard on herself.

"Now I feel a lot more settled in who I am and what I think and how I want to do things," Watson says. "And because I feel good about what I am doing, I don't need anyone else to say whether they think it's good or not. I think that comes with age, which is nice."

Even so, she doesn't stop creating goals.

"I always have the same New Year's resolution: to speak French fluently," she says. "I get a huge wave of nostalgia when I come into the Gare du Nord [railway]. There's such an emphasis on culture, art and music. And I'll do anything for a warm baguette."

source: people.com