Speech Package
Speech Package
Three minutes,
to the biggest battle of our professional lives,
all comes down to today.
Now either,
we heal as a team,
or were gonna crumble.
Inch by inch,
play by play,
til were finished.
And,
we can stay here and get the shit kicked out of us.
Or,
we can fight our way back into the light.
I mean,
One half a step too late or too early,
and you dont quite make it.
One half second too slow, too fast,
you dont quite catch it.
Because we know,
when we add up all those inches,
thats gonna make the fucking difference between winning and losing!
And I know,
if Im gonna have any life anymore,
its because, Im still willing to fight and die for that inch
Because thats what living is!
The six inches in front of your face!
Now I think
youre gonna see a guywho will go that inch with you.
Youre gonna see a guywho will sacrifice himself for this team
because he knows when it comes down to it,
youre gonna do the same for him.
This is the first campaign of its kind at the UN: we want to try and
galvanize as many men and boys as possible to be advocates for
gender equality. And we dont just want to talk about it, but make sure
it is tangible.
I was appointed six months ago and the more I have spoken about
feminism the more I have realized that fighting for womens rights has
too often become synonymous with man-hating. If there is one thing I
know for certain, it is that this has to stop.
For the record, feminism by definition is: The belief that men and
women should have equal rights and opportunities. It is the theory of
the political, economic and social equality of the sexes.
No country in the world can yet say they have achieved gender
equality.
But what stood out for me the most was that only 30 per cent of her
audience were male. How can we affect change in the world when only
half of it is invited or feel welcome to participate in the conversation?
Ive seen young men suffering from mental illness unable to ask for
help for fear it would make them look less machoin fact in the UK
suicide is the biggest killer of men between 20-49 years of age;
eclipsing road accidents, cancer and coronary heart disease. Ive seen
men made fragile and insecure by a distorted sense of what
constitutes male success. Men dont have the benefits of equality
either.
Both men and women should feel free to be sensitive. Both men and
women should feel free to be strong It is time that we all perceive
gender on a spectrum not as two opposing sets of ideals.
If we stop defining each other by what we are not and start defining
ourselves by what we arewe can all be freer and this is what
HeForShe is about. Its about freedom.
You might be thinking who is this Harry Potter girl? And what is she
doing up on stage at the UN. Its a good question and trust me, I have
been asking myself the same thing. I dont know if I am qualified to be
here. All I know is that I care about this problem. And I want to make it
better.
And having seen what Ive seenand given the chanceI feel it is my
duty to say something. English Statesman Edmund Burke said: All that
is needed for the forces of evil to triumph is for enough good men and
women to do nothing.
We are struggling for a uniting word but the good news is we have a
uniting movement. It is called HeForShe. I am inviting you to step
forward, to be seen to speak up, to be the "he" for "she". And to ask
yourself if not me, who? If not now, when?
Thank you.