Emma Watson may be best known for her role as Hermione Granger in the Harry Potter films, but she is working on making a new name for herself.
Watson was recently named a U.N. Women’s Goodwill Ambassador and has been working hard on the HeForShe campaign.
Watson claims that she is trying to remove any stereotypes associated with feminism and trying to encourage men to stand up for the rights of women.
She recently spoke about the campaign to an audience of delegates and representatives and explained why she feels so deeply about feminism and is happy to call herself a feminist.
“Why has the word become such an unpopular one?” Watson said of feminism.
“I think it is right I am paid the same as my male counterparts. I think it is right that I should make decisions about my own body. I think it is right that women be involved on my behalf in the policies and decisions that affect my life. I think it is right that socially, I am afforded the same respect as men.”
Thank you @ELLEUK for having me on the cover of the Feminism issue. My favourite magazine cover ever. LorraineELLE X pic.twitter.com/dbSkHAckG3
— Emma Watson (@EmWatson) October 30, 2014
Watson has delivered many other moving speeches on the topic in the past and it seems like she is getting a lot of people to listen.
The U.N. recently added their first male U.N. Women’s ambassador, Farhan Akhtar, who will be working on the HeForShe campaign with Watson and other ambassadors. Akhtar is a Bollywood star and his popularity is likely to draw some more attention to the already popular campaign.
Do you think Watson is a good ambassador and do you think Akhtar will make a difference for the campaign?