Just when you thought 2014 couldn’t get any more colorful, this crazy old year upped the ante. The starting venue was the United Nations a few weeks ago. The topic, you won’t be surprised to hear, was feminism. The speaker was Emma Watson, a lovely young woman with a charming British accent who also happened to star as Hermione in the Harry Potter movies.
Watson now serves as a “United Nations women goodwill ambassador,” and she spoke to launch the “HeforShe campaign,” which, according to its website, is “a solidarity movement for gender equality that brings together one half of humanity in support of the other half of humanity, for the entirety of humanity.” When you think about it, it sounds nice enough.
The “HeforShe Commitment,” which involves pushing a button online, thereby changing your life trajectory until you maybe forget about said commitment approximately 10 minutes later, reads:
Gender equality is not only a women’s issue, it is a human rights issue that requires my participation. I commit to take action against all forms of violence and discrimination faced by women and girls.
This pledge, aimed to recruit men to feminism, is placed next to rotating headshots of Barack Obama (the president of the United States), Ban Ki-Moon (the U.N. secretary-general), and Matt Damon (the Most Insufferable Actor in the World, If You Don’t Count Leonardo “I Yacht for a Better Climate” DiCaprio).
Again, this is all great, in theory. I mean, who likes violence or discrimination against women? But wait: A bunch of U.N. members apparently do. Iran seems to like it, as a nation that regularly stones rape victims. Sudan regularly enforces the practices of child marriage and ritual female genital mutilation. China’s official state policies encourage countless sex-selective, anti-female abortions every year. I could go on and on. The plight of many women worldwide is really quite unbelievable and sad, and it makes me feel lucky to be an American.
While Watson, to her credit, did give a few shout-outs to actual oppression around the globe — child brides and uneducated girls in Africa, specifically, along with an admission that “not all women have received the same rights I have” — her speech was an unfortunate reflection of the “we’re all victims,” zero-sense-of-proportion mishmash that makes up modern Western feminism.
If you don’t believe me, here is what Emma Watson, Hollywood actress, actually complained about before a body of 192 member states, some which have more terrifying dictatorships than others:
1. She was called “bossy” as a child.
2. She was sexualized by the media as a young movie star.
3. Many of her girlfriends quit their sports teams because they didn’t want to grow muscles.
4. Many of her teenage male friends, being teenage males, were unable to express their feelings.
Remember how Beyoncé had that “FEMINIST” sign behind her at the MTV Video Music Awards? At times, I’m sorry to say, Watson kind of needed a giant “FIRST-WORLD PROBLEMS” sign behind her at this U.N. speech. “I think it is right that I am paid the same as my male counterparts,” Watson said. “I think it is right that I should be able to make decisions about my own body.”
“But, sadly,” Watson continued, “I can say there is no one country in the world where all women can expect to see these rights.” This line, while patently absurd, was also actually quite genius, as it made everyone at the U.N. feel pretty darn good about themselves. I personally picture Kim Jong Un in his weird little suit, stray doughnut crumbs on his face, looking around and thinking, “Hey, nobody’s done it! We can’t feel that bad!” Yes, I know he wasn’t really there, but it is little wonder Watson got a standing ovation at the end of her speech.
Unfortunately, modern feminism is not, at least in the West, as Watson described it. It is not a simple quest for equal opportunity, nor is it basic common sense. It is a religion with very clear tenets — abortion, leftist politics, victimhood, and an ever-morphing “gender spectrum” — and if you don’t accept each one of these tenets, no questions asked, you’re out, sister.
Here’s the thing: You can object to modern, pre-packaged “feminism” and not be crazy. You can support women while taking left-wing talking points with a grain of salt. You can understand that free markets have lifted more women out of poverty across the world than any government program. You can believe in justice, freedom and empowerment and not obsess about sex and gender. Feminists, of course, never like to do this last one. It would put them — or at least their current modus operandi — right out of business.
Austin-based Heather Wilhelm writes a regular column for real clearpolitics.com and may be contacted at wilhelmheather@yahoo.com.
