Countless music, movie, and TV Award shows have always had distinctions between Men And Women in their award categories. For years, spectators have listened to presenters announce Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Female Singer, Best Male Singer, and so on and so forth. However, on May 7th 2017, MTV made history by giving out their first ever gender-neutral award.
Emma Watson's Victory
After all the nominees were announced and she was declared the winner for her role as Belle, Emma Watson modestly accepted her award for "Beauty & The Beast." She was up against several other prominent names in Hollywood, both male and female, including Hugh Jackman in "Logan" and Hailee Steinfeld in "The Edge of Seventeen." Not only was Watson's win monumental, but her acceptance speech was extremely powerful and it truly wowed audiences.
Her Acceptance Speech
She explained that gender has nothing to do with talent, so separating men and women into categories isn't the logistical option. Both males and females have the capability of demonstrating their amazing acting skills in movies and TV shows as well as their gifted voices in music videos and audio recordings. Rather than celebrating which female actress or singer is best and which male actor or singer is the best, Watson argues that we should simply be celebrating which is best, gender aside.
A Perfect Fit Times Two
Both Emma Watson and her character, Belle, are the perfect winners for this award, because of who they are as people. Belle is a character who always has her nose in a book, loves to learn, and refuses to marry a man simply because as a woman, she's supposed to marry.
Additionally, Watson is a well-known feminist, scholar, and voice of injustice, so her win speaks volumes.
Sexism at Work
She consistently stands out against sexism and unfair treatment for women in the workplace, especially in her line of work, where women are often paid much lower wages than men. They are also oversexualized and they experience far greater accounts of sexual harassment.
There isn't a better woman out there to have won this award than Emma Watson, a woman who refuses to endure inequality.
This division of men and women has existed for centuries and it is the small victories like Emma Watson's genderless award win that truly become the big victories in paving the way for a better future. MTV is taking a step in the right direction, and hopefully other award shows will follow suit.
An award is an award, a plastic or metal (genderless) object that a winner posses. Since the award itself doesn't have a gender, naturally, the gender of the award winner shouldn't matter either.
Congratulations, Emma Watson - you should be proud!
