a bonobo humanity?

‘Rise above yourself and grasp the world’ Archimedes – attribution

he for she

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I have to say, from a very young age, I considered myself a feminist. And then I read (sometime in the seventies, long before Emma Watson was born, bless her cotton socks) that you couldn’t be a feminist as a male, because it was some kind of uniquely female thing, whereas I, like Emma, thought it was a simple matter of believing that females were equal to men in every respect, and that it didn’t matter who did the believing – male, female, androgyne or alien.

Emma Watson’s Hermione is an iconic figure. Perhaps I should say J K Rowling’s Hermione, though millions identify Emma as Hermione. Yet, interestingly, Emma described herself  in her speech, self-depracatingly, as ‘that Harry Potter girl’, inadvertently reminding us of her role as support to the main protagonist.

I don’t in any way want to disparage the Harry Potter novels, which I’m sure would have been just as successful with Harriet Potter as the heroine – at least I hope so. I personally have observed how much Hermione has inspired young girls, as an intelligent, level-headed problem-solver. So it was with great delight that I, along with many others, have been able to see that Emma was not just playing a part as Hermione; that she genuinely wants to use her prominence to push for the recognition of women globally.

I would go further – and I suspect she would agree, though she didn’t go that far in her speech – and say that the world would be better for having more women in prominent positions – that it would be safer, more collaborative, and more congenial. But maybe I’m being a little idealistic…

In any case, the ‘he for she’ initiative is one that I endorse whole-heartedly, because it allows men to have their say without experiencing any of the weird responses from both sides. It’s simply about equality, and respect.

Written by stewart henderson

September 28, 2014 at 8:40 pm

Posted in gender, sex

Tagged with , ,

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