今年被聯合國欽點為女性親善大使的Emma Watson前些天在紐約出席聯合國會議時,發表了為女性爭取權益的演講,強調HeForShe 兩性平權宣傳活動不只是要呼籲女性意識抬頭,還希望兩性都能獲得自由,擺脫刻板印象的束縛,無論男女都能活出真我(按此處看詳細介紹)。強而有力的精彩演說撼動人心,網友們紛紛轉載,為其點讚,褒遠多於貶。
由於實在看不慣班上部分男同學的無知愚昧及對女性的不尊重,年僅15歲的男校學生Ed Holtom寫下了公開信支持Emma Watson,希望男生們能好好看看Emma的演說。誰知一時的感慨竟像病毒般傳開,並且大獲民心,隨後更被Sunday Telegraph刊登了出來。寫得非常精彩,建議大家花幾分鐘時間讀一下。
大概內容:
在公開信中,這位同學表示自己對Emma Watson演講中的每一字每一句都非常認同,如今能夠活在女性能夠站出來對抗性別歧視的西方國家實屬萬幸,但大多數人仍對女性權益的話題非常敏感,甚至是反感,而且常常將女權主義的含義扭曲成仇視男人、激進等等,完全不了解女性權益的真正定義其實只是在追求政治、經濟與社會地位上的兩性平等。
我們從小就被區別對待,不同的性別玩的玩具,參與的體育鍛煉都有所區分,如果你喜歡上“對面陣營”的玩意,就會被嘲弄,而這種讓人無法表達真我的性別歧視與刻板印象還存在於我們的語言之中,比方說“girly”、“manly”這類詞,赤裸裸的歧視存在於我們的生活當中,所以想要扭轉,絕對不只是同工同酬和提供平等就業機會那麼簡單。男女有別,但請不要讓性別來定義我們是誰。
公開信英文完整版:
I recently had a religious studies lesson where we talked about gender and the role it plays in modern society, having watched Emma Watson’s speech about gender equality the night before and agreed with everything she said, I was disappointed by how ignorant some of the other boys in my class were (I attend an independent, all boys school in Hertfordshire). I felt compelled to write down my views of gender equality, although I’m not sure how well they would be received by people at my school, I wanted to share it somehow, so here it is.
“If We Really Want Equality”
We’re lucky to live in a western world where women can speak out against stereotypes. It’s a privilege. Gender equality and feminism is not about “man-hating” or the idea of “female supremacy”. It is, by definition, the opposite. The definition of feminism is, “a person who believes in the social, political and economic equality of the sexes.” It’s pretty simple really, and if you believe in those things, then you’re a feminist. Feminism can also be interpreted as a woman owning her sexuality, in the same way men do, wearing clothes that make her feel good about herself, or that show off her body, not for the attention of men, without being called a slut and with freedom from the threat of rape, because she wants to.
Recently we’ve been hearing about what it means to be “masculine” and what it means to be “feminine”. It means nothing, barring biological differences. By perceiving these two words as anything other than the description of a human’s genitalia, we perpetuate a stereotype which is nothing but harmful to all of us. By using words such as “girly” or “manly” we inadvertently buy into gender stereotyping whether we like it or not.
We live the gender stereotype without realising it, we have been born with it, we played with toys designed for our genders, we go to schools which are segregated, we play sports which other genders do not, and it takes some mindfulness for many people to even acknowledge its existence and the injustice it entails for both genders. If we want equality, it will take more effort than paying women the same as men, or giving women equal opportunities to men.
If we really want equality we must all make an active decision to abandon phrases such as “what it means to be masculine” and the like. If we really want equality we must try our best to ignore gender and stop competing with one another. We must stop comparing ourselves to each other, particularly other people of the same gender, because that leaves us with a feeling of insecurity and self doubt.
We must stop pressuring each other to fit with this stereotype which more often than not leaves us feeling repressed and unable to express ourselves. And most of all, if we really want equality, we need to stop caring. Stop caring about gender, stop caring about another person’s sexual preference, stop caring about how far someone fits in with the stereotype and stop caring, most of all, about how much we fit this stereotype, we must not let gender define us.
Kind regards,
Ed
資料來源:buzzfeed