With the advent of the internet, thoughts, words, and perceptions can be altered to any extent. News spread like wildfire and the prominent leaders, actors, and social workers are in a place where they can use their increased popularity and fan following to reach out to millions.
The question is, has the proximity to actors changed the perception of people towards feminism? In my opinion, yes. A lot of actors, especially, have come forward and spoken about them being feminist. Emma Watson’s campaign known as the HeForShe has a brilliant message for men to support the women in their lives. By targeting the male population, her campaign has been able to influence innumerable men and women to turn into feminists.
Her campaign has positively affected so many men’s lives personally that they openly came out to the world as feminists. This spurred a new wave of male feminists who came forward to become feminists because their role models turned into one. Though we don’t consciously realize it, we are influenced massively by social media more than anything else. Famous actors like Tom Hiddleston, Logan Lerman, Douglas Booth, and Matthew Lewis openly announced that they supported Emma Watson in the HeforShe campaign and that they were proud feminists.
If one speech in the UN and one post on Twitter can have such a massive outrage of people turning into feminists and truly believing in the concept, imagine the number of people that could make a change if more and more people start spreading the word. In today’s internet age, the world has become a small place and people can easily influence the lives of others. The saying, “with great power comes great responsibility,” is a classic example in this case. It is essential that more women such as Emma Watson who have the power and position and certain influence over people’s thinking should come out and speak for women, equality, and feminism.