In the past two days I have watched Emma Watson’s speech to the United Nations, in which she introduced the UN’s new He for She campaign go viral, both on the larger internet and amongst Ole Miss students. I personally saw it via a laptop hooked to a big screen TV, so that as many of my sorority sisters as possible could watch together. There was cheering, there were tears, and ultimately there was agreement. Emma was right. In the race that is feminism, the baton has been withheld from too many genuinely concerned and interested men for too long.
Emma’s (forgive my casual use of her first name, like so many Harry Potter fan girls I almost claim the poor girl as part of my friend group) speech is not an isolated event. Recently, more and more campaigns formerly centered on mobilizing and empowering women are realizing, women of this generation overwhelmingly are already empowered. That’s not to say that this empowerment is untouchable, that there aren’t still ways in which we are robbed of it- but our rising generation, the women who are coming into their own right now? We have an internal strength, and the sense of sisterhood and shared passion needed to realize it. The challenge has moved from empowering women, to engaging men. The system can’t be changed until those already in control acknowledge the need for change, we cannot continue to make strides for women without the help and support of men.
Any lingering doubts I had had about the virility of the feminist movement here in the deep south disappeared as I watched that video fly from newsfeed to newsfeed across campus. The women of Ole Miss are ready to embrace change. Are the men? Are the men of Ole Miss confident enough in their masculinity to stand with us and say, “I don’t need the women around me to be weak to know that I am strong?” So to parrot Emma’s catalytic speech, “Men, I would like to take this opportunity to extend your formal invitation, gender equality is your issue, too.”
It’s okay to start small. Most of the women I know ventured into feminism by putting one toe in to feel the water before they were comfortable wading in. Check out heforshe.org; browse the #yesallwomen twitter feed; read up on one of the many, many efforts to stop campus sexual assault (an especially relevant topic here at the University of Mississippi); or just ask a female friend, sister, girlfriend, “why does this matter?”
Feminism is being reclaimed by the general population. It’s no longer about refusing to shave and yelling on street corners, it’s about a call for equal respect- both legally and socially. And as women are learning to respect each other, it’s falling to men to learn to respect women. In too many instances this can be achieved simply, with a comment on a woman’s appearance not passed, a drunken girl safely returned to her friends by a bystander, or a vote for homecoming maid based on character and achievement, not popularity or looks. Ole Miss has had a negative social stigma for too long; why not take a small step forward to mitigate that? Men, this is your call to action, lets make our beloved University a hallmark for something positive, an example to be followed, a place of equal dignity and respect regardless of gender.
Cecilia Criddle is a junior international studies and Spanish major from Pascagoula.
