He for She

From UBC Wiki

HeForShe is a gender equality movement currently being conducted by the United Nations (UN). The motive of HeforShe, is to approach gender inequality, not simply as a women's issue, but as a human rights issue. HeForShe strives for both men and women to be equal, whereas other world movements have focused primarily on the struggles of women. HeForShe is the UN's most recent campaign. Being still new, the campaign has been gaining notoriety for registering well with the younger world population, not only for their passive approach to feminism, but also the cultural appeal of joining a movement that is getting much positive attention from celebrities.

Introduction of the Campaign

The HeForShe Campaign was introduced by the 2014 UN Celebrity Goodwill Ambassador Emma Watson [1]. Watson is an actress most known for her roles in the Harry Potter series. She addressed other UN members in a moving speech addressed to the UN in New York that later turned into a viral sensation on September 20, 2014.

Add caption here

"...the more I have spoken about feminism, the more I have realized that fighting for women's rights has become synonymous with man-hating. If there is one thing I know for certain, it is that this has to stop." - Emma Watson [2]


The actress emphasizes the notion that gender inequality is not an issue that can be fixed by women alone and that men must contribute in resolving this global problem. In her speech, Watson also notes that, HeForShe movement seeks to eradicate the common misperception, that Feminism is a battle of the sexes. Watson seeks to create a world where both boys and girls are comfortable being strong or fragile and are not going to be confined by their gender stereotypes. Watson mentioned in her speech that her push for gender equality is fueled by previous Goodwill Ambassador Hilary Clinton.

Clinton focused her reign as Goodwill Ambassador in 1995 and gave a powerful speech about women's equality and unity. Clinton became the opening voice for feminism. Feminism meaning equal rights, not simply female superiority. This speech was presented in Beijing. Watson mentioned in her UN address almost 20 years later that the idea Clinton was advocating for is a fight that is still yet to be won.

Focus of HeforShe

The HeforShe campaign aims to improve gender equality globally, through paying particular attention to women’s participation and welfare in terms of education, health, identity, work, violence, and politics.

Through education, they hope to call attention to gender bias, online bullying, as well as to “empower educators to create equality in the classroom.” [3]

In terms of health, HeforShe aims to achieve a gender equal world, providing an “equal chance at a healthy, fulfilling life” for all. [4] Primary health concerns include maternal health care, HIV/AIDS awareness and treatment, and addressing the damages of child marriage.

The campaign aims to challenge prejudice towards the LGBTQ community, focusing on removing negative stereotypes associated with one’s sexual orientation or gender expression. HeforShe also aims to challenge normative conceptions of masculinity, and traditional gender expectations in general. [5]

HeforShe aims to improve gender equality in the workplace, to attain equal opportunity and equal pay among men and women. [6]

Gender-based violence around the world is addressed in the campaign. It aims to educate and empower both men and women to stand up against and prevent gendered violence through the UN curriculum “Voices Against Violence.” [7]

HeforShe also works to advance women’s position and voice in politics, at local and national levels. It aims to attain women’s equal representation in government through the “Step It Up” campaign. [8]


Joining a Movement

Since September the HeForShe campaign has gained an incredible amount of media attention. Male celebrities have also jumped on the bandwagon to support the cause. Influential figures taking part in this movement are not just celebrities, powerful politicians such as US President Barack Obama, Secretary General Ban Ki-moon also have publicly showed their support. The movement itself is specifically targeting males to start supporting the feminist movement and it has successfully done so.

Add caption here

President Obama stated "“Lifting women up lifts up our economy and lifts up our country…We’ve got to make sure that…somebody is standing up for them.” in support of the movement. This HeForShe campaign acted as their formal invitation to join women in fighting gender stereotypes all over the world. The hashtag #HeForShe is flooding twitter, instagram, and facebook news feeds all over the world by all walks of people.

Add caption here

Part of what makes HeForShe appealing to everyone is the lack of aggression the campaign promotes. Lately, other feminist campaigns target males as the enemy if they treat women like the stereotypical lady-like figures they were brought up to appear. The FCKH8 Campaign[9] used a promotional video that turned off many viewers in order to make their point on feminism. These types of adds and approaches to feminism give HeForShe a peaceful edge in reaching success that the other campaigns lack.

"Now it’s time to unify our efforts. HeForShe is a solidarity movement for gender equality that brings together one half of humanity in support of the other half of humanity, for the benefit of all." [10]

One Direction singer Harry Styles shows his support for the UN HeForShe push.

Commitment to the HeForShe movement is agreeing to the idea that gender equality is not simply a women's rights issue, but a human rights issue. No one is immune to gender prejudices. By joining the HeForShe movement, individuals are part of a group of over 186,000 people who all agree that gender equality is not something one sex has to face alone. HeForShe uses a geo-locater that is directly linked to their website and it gives viewers the chance to see what areas of the world are showing the most support for this movement. The UN wants to reach one billion supporters by July of 2015, and it seems that they are well on their way.

People can not only take the pledge to fight gender inequality, but donate to the cause as well. Donations can be made on the UN Women's website and the funds raised will go towards providing support for young girls all over the world. The support can start from something on a smaller scale such as stopping the idea of man-hating to larger ideas like providing education for girls in third world countries. The overall goal is to soon level the playing field for boys and girls alike in all countries. Boys should be allowed to be fragile and girls should be allowed to be strong. Equal is the key word behind the campaign.

HeForShe is still in it's early stages of life, but so far it is safe to say that this campaign has the potential to reach new heights that the UN will live to be incredibly proud of.

Initial Progress and Critical Response

As previously mentioned, since its inception, the HeforShe campaign has been considerably successful as a result of the support gained from political, corporate and educational figureheads. HeforShe has since toured universities within the United Kingdom in an attempt to mobilise student to reduce sexism at the adolescent level. Looking to counteract the ‘lad culture’ movement, which ultimately attempts to justify the objectification of women through homosociality. [11]

A large portion of the campaigns initial progress can be attributed to its use of social media interaction. Through the use of Facebook and Twitter, specifically the hashtag “#HeforShe”, the campaign has been able to reach out to its target demographic in order to gain publicity. [12] This is reflected within the mobilisation of popular culture and outreach of celebrities, which is perhaps most evidently in the plight against wage inequalities. [13] This infiltration into the gender equality discourse can be observed within the acting industry, a specific example would be during Patricia Arquette’s Oscar acceptance speech, during which she calls for an end to the wage gap. [14]

The HeforShe campaign has however been critiqued for its formal construct. Cathy Young of Time Magazine argues that a considerable repercussion of the campaigns manifesto is that it aligns itself with current feminist ideologies that "in its present form have (has) too often ignored sexist biases against males, and sometimes has actively contributed to them.” Therefore suggesting that the campaign alienates injustices afflicted against men and boys, and as such is counter progressive for gender equality. Young also points out that Emma Watson, the figurehead for the campaign, is quoted as saying “How can we affect change in the world when only half of it is invited or feel welcome to participate in the conversation?”. Which aligns her in a contradictory position to HeforShe, which ask that men take action against the inequalities committed against women. [15]

Reframing the Feminist Perspective

It could be argued that the success of this campaign is partly due to its taking a different approach and reframing feminist initiatives to be more positive and inclusive. Various scholars have explored the common perceptions of feminism, most alarming being the negative stereotypes associated with the movement. Such negative stereotypes include “the portrayal of feminists as harsh, demanding, uptight, aggressive […] and anti-men.” [16] Further, it has been noted that in recent years, many young women have been reluctant to associate themselves with feminist perspectives, or to identify themselves as feminists, in large part due to these negative stereotypes. [17] Some scholars argue that this construction of feminism leads to the “perpetuation of traditional sexist discourses which uphold patriarchal practices.” [18] The HeforShe campaign, by aligning with and including men and boys in the conversation, offers a refreshing approach towards gaining gender equality in the 21st century.

2015 Campaign Developments

IMPACT 10X10X10

The IMPACT 10X10X10 initiative was launched on the 23rd of January 2015 at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. The launch of the campaign is an push to gain momentum in the fight for global gender equality. Targeting the key structure of the worlds most pivotal countries, HeforShe is attempting to engage governments, businesses and universities in a crucial discourse of women rights in our rapidly developing global society. [19]

Emma Watson disclosed at the World Economic Forum, during the IMPACT 10X10X10 initiative release that the United Nations was astounded by the amount of initial support the HeforShe campaign gained as result of the influence of members of popular culture. Citing “Desmond Tutu, Prince Harry and Hilary Clinton” as a few of the many figureheads who's involvement has been crucial for the movements promotion. [20] However, as aforementioned, the campaign leaders have decided that in order to combat issues of gender inequality, world leaders in the government, businesses and education have to be mobilised to utilise their power of resolution to promote social change. The manifesto for the IMPACT 10X10X10 initiative states that: “This moment in history represents a unique opportunity to position gender equality and women’s empowerment at the heart of the global agenda.”

Each targeted sector has key goals the UN wish to target through communications with political and administrative leaders. At the governmental level, HeforShe highlight their strategy as seeking “at least 10 Heads of State/Political Leaders who are prepared to become role models for the global political community.”, suggesting that in order to achieve gender equality within a particular government the campaigns prominence must be recognisable at the national level. For corporations, they are seeking CEOs of major corporations that are willing to support the empowerment of women within the workplace as well holding outreach programs on the HeforShe initiative to their employees. Conclusively, the UN are targeting University administrators to implant mandatory orientations for students on the issues of violence on campus and the sensitisation to inequality. All of which aim to engage their targeted demographic in a discourse about the effects that gender inequality has had on their lives. For example, governments are urged to highlight key statistics that will allow the public to understand the ongoing issues within the battle for gender equality. [21]

Some of the IMPACT 10X10X10 ‘champions’ who have pledged to the cause include: Prime Ministers of Iceland, Japan and Sweden. CEO’s of Twitter, Vodafone and Barclays. Presidents of The University of Hong Kong, Nagoya University and University of Leicester.

Other media based initiatives

For International Women’s Day on March 8th 2015, campaign figurehead Emma Watson took part in an hour long Q&A about how the public can go about addressing issues of gender inequality within society. The session was run in collaboration with Facebook and was streamed live to millions of viewers across the globe. The main issue addressed at the conference was the move to gain more involvement from men on behalf of the issue, with Watson stating herself that "it's not about men saving women...it's an equality club for both genders." [22]

References

  1. Emma Watson. (2014, November 23). Retrieved November 24, 2014, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emma_Watson.
  2. Emma Watson: Gender equality is your issue too. (2014, September 20). Retrieved November 24, 2014, from http://www.unwomen.org/en/news/stories/2014/9/emma-watson-gender-equality-is-your-issue-too.
  3. http://www.heforshe.org/en/take-action/education
  4. http://www.heforshe.org/en/take-action/health
  5. http://www.heforshe.org/en/take-action/identity
  6. http://www.heforshe.org/en/take-action/work
  7. Voices Against Violence. UN Women, 2013. Retrieved from: http://www.unwomen.org/en/digital-library/publications/2013/10/voices-against-violence-curriculum
  8. Step It Up for gender equality. UN Women. Retrieved from: http://www.unwomen.org/en/get-involved/step-it-up
  9. FCKH8 Campaign Video. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ZfltpUhP30&list=UU2Uhn0GOuErIBhOA3T79Mkg.
  10. Home - HeForShe. (n.d.). Retrieved November 24, 2014, from http://www.heforshe.org.
  11. Alexandra Topping: HeforShe campaign makes tour of 10 university campuses (2015, September 29). Retrieved November 09, 2015, from http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/sep/29/heforshe-campaign-makes-tour-of-10-university-campuses .
  12. The Jennifer Herman: #HeForShe Campaign is Using Social Media to Fight for Gender Equality (2015, February 25). Retrieved November 09, 2015, from http://www.uschamberfoundation.org/blog/post/heforshe-campaign-using-social-media-fight-gender-equality/42744 .
  13. Isabella Silvers: Equal Pay Day 2015 (2015, November 09). Retrieved November 09, 2015, from http://www.instyle.co.uk/celebrity/news/equal-pay-day-2015 .
  14. Patricia Arquette Oscar Acceptance Speech (2015, March 09). Retrieved November 09, 2015, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6wx-Qh4Vczc .
  15. Cathy Young: Sorry, Emma Watson, but HeForShe Is Rotten for Men (2014, September 26). Retrieved November 09, 2015, from http://time.com/3432838/emma-watson-feminism-men-women/ .
  16. Riley, S. (2001). Maintaining Power: Male Constructions of 'Feminists' and 'Feminist Values.' Feminism & Psychology, 11(1). p.57.
  17. Riley, S. (2001). Maintaining Power: Male Constructions of 'Feminists' and 'Feminist Values.' Feminism & Psychology, 11(1). 55-78.
  18. Riley, S. (2001). Maintaining Power: Male Constructions of 'Feminists' and 'Feminist Values.' Feminism & Psychology, 11(1). p.58.
  19. Emma Watson Releases 10X10X10 (2015, January 23). Retrieved December 4, 2015, from http://www.unwomen.org/en/news/stories/2015/01/emma-watson-launches-10-by-10-by-10 .
  20. Emma Watson Releases 10X10X10, Video (2015, January 23). Retrieved December 4, 2015, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oE28bb11GQs .
  21. HeforShe Strategy Overview, PDF (2015). Retrieved December 4, 2015, from http://www.heforshe.org/strategy .
  22. Emma Watson: Don't let anyone tell you what you can or cannot achieve (March 9, 2015). Retrieved December 4, 2015, from http://www.cnn.com/2015/03/06/europe/emma-watson-he-for-she-international-womens-day/.

5. Hilary CLinton UN Speech http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/hillaryclintonbeijingspeech.htm

6.