He for She ~ It's not what you think.

When I heard Emma Watson was giving a speech to the UN about He for She, I was amazed. Turns out, there is no connection to transgenderism. He for She is about feminism.

Feminism is not man-hating. Honest. Feminism is about men & women having equal rights and opportunities. The link above takes you to a blog about it and has the speech embedded. I really like Kadeen Griffiths' take on Emma's speech, which is why I've chosen to link the Bustle page rather than straight to Emma's speech. It's a ten-minute long speech, which isn't long at all and is totally worthwhile. I recommend listening to the whole thing.

My favorite quote from this speech summarizes why I've chosen to write about it here:

“IT IS TIME THAT WE ALL SEE GENDER AS A SPECTRUM INSTEAD OF TWO SETS OF OPPOSING IDEALS.”

If you love someone (including yourself) who is transgender, you've begun to see gender isn't pink or blue, or even a line ~ it is better defined as a circle. There is a little bit of pink opposite a little bit of blue, but almost the entire thing is a broad range of shades of purple. Gender has nothing to do with sex and the fact is, most of us are purple. Masculine & feminine traits are present in everyone.

If we understand gender as a broad spectrum, with all points being equally important, how can we discriminate? People should be hired & paid on the basis of skill, talent, personality and not gender. The perky, friendly, fast pink cashier should make the same as the perky, friendly, fast blue cashier and the perky, friendly, fast fuchsia cashier. 

Everyone, everywhere on the gender spectrum has basic human rights and we, as a society, owe it to ourselves to protect those rights. No one should ever be forced into marriage, prostitution or slavery (even, or especially, when their parents foist it upon them). No one should be denied housing or employment based on gender, real or perceived. Every single human being has the right to worship, or not, as they see fit. Everyone has the right not to suffer violence.

Regardless of where you sit on that circle, you should have the same opportunity for education; the same right to decide whom you marry; the same right to housing and the same right to protection under the law.

Everyone ~ absolutely everyone, has the right to dignity.