A 15-year-old boy responds to Emma Watson’s UN speech.
“By using words such as ‘girly’ or ‘manly’ we inadvertently buy into gender stereotyping,” he wrote. “We play with toys designed for our gender, we go to segregated schools, we play different sports based on gender, and yet it takes some effort for many people to acknowledge the existence of gender inequality and the injustice it entails for both sexes.”
I hope the entire next generation thinks this way, and it starts to bleed in to the rest of the culture’s consciousness.
Christine Rose 
Whilst I do agree with some aspects of her speech, I can’t help but wonder that due to gender conditioning from birth – girls play with dolls, boys with cars etc, whether a percentage of either gender would feel insulted or hurt if things were different. Don’t men like to be referred to as ‘manly’ because it gives them an ego boost, or makes them feel important or wanted or even desirable?
The same for women, would they feel less feminine if tags such as ‘girly’ or ‘beautiful’ were swapped for more broad terms like ‘capable’ or ‘a good person’ because whilst those could be true, if used instead of phrases based around gender they might serve to lessen the feeling of femininity.
Sure, gender shouldn’t play such a significant role in society, but when it comes to certain elements in life there will always be a difference based on the physical differences – such as men having more muscle mass and can therefore sprint faster than women, or how both sexes utilise different parts of the brain for problem solving, and indeed the more profound aspects of the mothering instinct around children that isn’t so obvious when it comes to men.
Because of nature or evolution there will always be differences, though I agree that all too often gap tends to become too wide and too obvious without need for it.
Remember that they were socialized to feel good when called “manly” or, in the case of women, sometimes to have value only when called “beautiful.”
We need to start socializing our children differently. To value different things. Whereas I can go on a tirade talking about how women are taught to stroke male ego as part of the problem, I won’t. It’s not relevant right now.
We need to start socializing our children differently and as a culture valuing things that matter. Certainly we can use terms like “beautiful” and give compliments about how nice someone looks regardless of gender, but when that’s the only thing or the biggest thing that we value, and it is extremely gender biased in that regard, then that’s the problem.
How about valuing kindness? Or honesty? Or intelligence? …instead of how many muscles someone has or whether or not they fit the very contrived concept of beauty in our culture.
It’s far as “manly” goes, think of all the men who are emotionally stunted because they’re never allowed to feel anything less they get called a “girl.” Think of the worst things you can call a man, and they all have to do with the feminine. Pussy. Cunt. You run/throw/cry like a girl.
And how about the way we insult women? Bitch. Whore. Slut. It generally has to do with either a woman showing some kind of strength or backbone, in the case of “bitch,” or insulting her sexuality by making it something shameful.
That’s the point.