Hmmm. I've just watched Emma give her speech, had only read the transcript previously.
First of all, well done to her, and I can see how sincere and earnest she is. I hope she and this project manage to achieve what they want and get some men to actually give a shit about female oppression.
I get that it seems like a good idea to try to stir the men into action by saying "you and your sons will benefit from this too". Which, to my mind, is either pretty cynical (we need men but they will only give a shit if they think this will benefit them so let's dangle a carrot of good stuff for them if they get with the programme); or it is pretty misogynistic - because it sounds rather as though "gender equality" is as much as a problem for men and boys as it is for girls and women.
Except we know it isn't. Yeah, patriarchy hurts men too, but it doesn't oppress them. It isn't boys being married off as children and having their genitals severely mutilated and having children too young and developing fistula or dying in childbirth. It isn't boys who make up the majority of prostitutes and victims of sex trafficking. It isn't boys who are being aborted or drowned in buckets in their millions in Asia due to being born a low status sex. It isn't boys who are being sexualized and othered and considered and treated as low status sexual, reproductive and domestic servants. Etc fucking etc...
I don't want to diss Emma and this campaign, I wish them luck (and she will need the strength of the woman who has well and truly put her head over the parapet, even if she was waving a flag with menz we care about you spelt out on it). I would however really liked her to have said something about male privilege. Specifically that if men want to stop being hurt by patriarchy, they are going to have to give up some of that lovely privilege - the one that most of them aren't even aware they have.
I also wished she had framed things as being about female oppression and structural sexism rather than "gender equality" - a concept which rather disappears the hierarchical and gendered nature of sexism.
It's a bit depressing when a social justice and freedom movement needs to appeal to its oppressors by telling them they will benefit from giving up the oppressing. It also isn't strictly true, men have much more to lose than they do to gain.
Still, good on her for speaking up and getting involved. She's only young and I think it takes time for a lot of us to develop more radical perspectives of feminism. If she gets young people on board that is a good thing. I just hope the message of this movement is going to stay focused on the massive global structural injustices and violence done to women and not become (or be hijacked as) WHATABOUTERY...