The HeForShe Movement

Emma Watson with UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon

I have to admit that I was moved (to tears) by Emma Watson's bold and eloquent speech to the United Nations this past Saturday.  This comes with a deep sense of pride that an actress whose career I have long admired and whose talent onscreen is beginning to flourish (I maintain she should have two Oscar nominations by now and if you don't agree you clearly haven't seen The Perks of Being a Wallflower and The Bling Ring) is also using her celebrity for a great deal of good.

I'm not going to re-iterate all of the things that Watson stated in her speech (I've included a link below in case you haven't seen it already-and I suggest you do), but she is absolutely right that gender equality is not a women's issue in the same way that racial equality is not a person-of-color issue and equality for people of different sexual orientations is not just a gay rights issue.  Inequality is something that none of us, from any vantage point, should stand for, and it's equally true that none of us should simply stand idly by and wait for others to take care of the issue.  It's time to support political candidates and organizations that want to promote equality for all people, everywhere, in hopes that this issue, one that is so simple and yet continues to be a constant struggle around the world, will finally be addressed.