Emma Watson is a badass.

[mckitterick]

UN Women's Global Goodwill Ambassador Emma Watson just gave a talk to the UN at a special event for the HeForShe campaign at the United Nations' Headquarters in New York on September 20, 2014. This is a brilliant speech. Here it is:

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Some important callouts

Comments

[zitronenhai]

I love her. I'll admit it. I appreciate the way she is using her fame.

[mckitterick]

TOTALLY!

If everyone used their fame like this, the world would be a decent place to live in no time at all.

[scarlettina]

Someone on Facebook said that every now and then an actor or celebrity turns out to be the people you hope they are. She's one of those. She's taken the extraordinary opportunity she's been given in this life to make a difference. Good for her!

[mckitterick]

INORITE?

By the way, if you didn't see my post on Facebookland, The Mens have come out against Emma Watson. Um, what? I'll save you the suffering, but it's the gamerworld attacking feminism because of Zoe Quinn... the "QUINNSPIRACY!!!" My response to that crap:

When I posted the wonderful Emma Watson video yesterday about feminism and the HeForShe campaign, I forgot to take into account the Feelingz of The Menz. Have you ever felt that a woman "had it coming" when dogpiled by jerks, or that the gaming world is suddenly overrun with "feminazis," people like John Scalzi with his "Easiest Player Setting" commentary, and women gamers (gasp!) who use the gaming metaphor to discuss privilege

[scarlettina]

Yeah. I've been following this general discussion for a while now. It was a no-brainer that as a result of being courageous and standing up for women and for equality that Watson was going to be the target of the same kind of hatred that not just Zoe Quinn but Anita Sarkeesian (that goes to a video of her TED talk on the subject) has received--among many others. What amazes me is how fragile these haters are that words and ideas can scare them that much. What worries me is how these men have gone from being simply online bozos to terrorists. Too strong a word? How else do we refer to people who make bomb threats? That's what these men are doing. I also use the word "men" very deliberately. These are grown adults doing this, not just teenagers getting off on the power of online anonymity. They are scary. They are dangerous. And their actions and words make the fight that Watson, Quinn and Sarkeesian are leading that much more important.

[mckitterick]

Absolutely! And it's not surprising that all this is coming to a head now, when recent surveys show that the majority of gamers are now female.