When Emma Watson isn’t in Hollywood bringing joy to millions of fans in one film or another, she’s usually fulfilling her role as Goodwill Ambassador to the U.N. Normally, this doesn’t draw much attention, except for those interested in hearing what Emma has to say, but she has come under fire for her most recent U.N. speech. The critique doesn’t address what Emma has said, but merely seems to object to the Harry Potter actress expressing any view whatsoever.
Harry Potter Star Emma Watson Gets Bullied Over Her Latest Speech
Offered without comment – The Sun’s response to Emma Watson addressing the UN about gender equality and sexual assault pic.twitter.com/KQ0MPSJGbL
— Louise Ridley (@LouiseRidley) September 23, 2016
Emma was making a speech for the HeForShe campaign, when she recently addressed the United Nations in her role as Goodwill Ambassador, reports E! News , but it was later revealed that things didn’t go as smoothly as Watson had hoped. Her speech drew criticism from a reporter for The Sun , but, instead of opposing Ms. Watson’s views on her call for gender equality, the writer attacked Emma on a personal level, hurling insults at the Harry Potter actress and political activist, via his newspaper column.
The writer begins his onslaught against Watson by drawing attention to her status as the goodwill ambassador, questioning how Emma can be an ambassador in her own country. From there, he gets more insulting and abusive towards Ms. Watson.
“Anyway, instead of telling them all the rules of Quidditch or how to turn someone into a frog, she bored them all rigid with whining, leftie, PC c–,” the writer said of Watson’s speech.
He went on to say that, although he doesn’t object to Hollywood actresses expressing their views, he does blame society for listening to them. The column writer suggests that actresses are generally not worth listening to, adding that most of them are not educated on the topics upon which they speak.
“I suppose they got Emma in because Angelina Jolie is a bit tied up with other stuff at the moment,” he adds.
Emma Watson Helps To Ensure Gender Equality On College Campuses
As USA Today reports, the speech that stirred up so much hate from that reporter was a part of a HeForShe campaign to bring greater safety to college campuses across the world. Watson shared a report with the U.N. committee, detailing pledges from 10 U.S. universities to improve issues of gender equality. Emma outlined details of the report, including a need for greater female representation on college campuses.
Ms. Watson added that there were three vital areas needed to be addressed in creating greater gender equality.
“The ratio of men to women represented in university faculty and senior administrative positions; the fields of study selected by young women versus young men; and the number of female students at universities compared to their equal access to academic and professional career tracks,” explained Ms. Watson.
Emma went on to describe her thoughts on how any given college or university should mirror our society and should, therefore, be free of all forms of violence, bigotry, and bullying. Watson spoke about her idea that by creating a small utopia on college campuses, the larger whole of society would ultimately reap those benefits and be improved on a greater scale.
“A good university is like a tiny utopia,” said Emma. “It’s a miniature model of how the whole of society could look.”
Watson went on to say that universities and colleges need to establish clear and hard rules that guarantees the safety of all students, regardless of gender, orientation, or ethnicity. She presented a hopeful future, where survivors of assaults and attacks are respected and supported by the community. Ms. Watson added that, when one person’s safety is undermined, everyone should feel threatened.
“That’s why, we believe, that students should leave university believing in, striving for, and expecting societies of true equality in every sense and that universities have the power to be a vital catalyst for change,” said Emma Watson.
[Featured Image by Nicholas Hunt/Getty Images]