United Nations Women Goodwill Ambassador Emma Watson delivered a powerful speech on feminism and launched the HeForShe campaign in New York City Sept. 20.

“I actually got chills while she was speaking; it was so deliberate and really moving,” said senior Brigid McGlynn, who was able to attend the event. “What was striking was that she called out everyone for considering the word ‘feminism’ to be negative.”

The 24-year-old actress described her journey to becoming a feminist as an obvious path.

As a child, Watson was labeled as bossy and controlling for wanting to take charge, and by the time she was fifteen she was sexually objectified by the media.

However, Watson does not view herself as a victim, but rather as a woman with the power to take a stand and change gender inequalities around the world.

“If not me, who? If not now, when,” Watson asked.

This is the question that drove Watson to present this issue in front of the world’s top delegates.

“I think that Emma is a fantastic ambassador for this cause, because she is someone people our age grew up with, and seeing her being a mature young women campaigning for equality of men and women will make others our age want to do the same,” said McGlynn.

The HeForShe campaign is the first of its kind because it involves the participation of both men and women.

Feminism is often viewed as an anti-male movement, but by inviting men to support gender equality Watson is eliminating the “us vs. them” approach.

“It [feminism] is seen as an extreme, as “man-hating,” and it is seen to have a connotation to it,” said McGlynn. “Feminism does not have to be that way, it is supposed to be all people working for equality, no matter the gender.

That was the whole point of this conference: not only women campaigning for themselves, but for men to stand along side women and work together.”

Men are also victims of gender inequality and stereotypes.

“Men, I would like to take this opportunity to extend your formal invitation,” Watson said. “Gender equality is your issue too.”

Watson described the pressure placed on men to be strong as being an emotional burden. Boys are raised to be tough and taught to repress their emotions.

This repression has led many young men to commit suicide. By stating this connection, Watson declared that if action is not taken by both genders success is impossible.

“Both men and women should feel free to be sensitive,” said Watson. “Both men and women should feel free to be strong.”

Watson has already received an immense amount of support from many notable figures. Celebrities such as Matthew Gallagher, Harry Styles and Prince Harry took to Twitter to show solidarity for the campaign.

President Obama and the First Lady also made public statements supporting the cause. Men all over the world are taking the pledge to end gender inequality.

Senior Kenny Reischmann took the pledge to promote equal rights between genders.

“It’s an important issue because everyone needs to realize this isn’t a woman’s issue, it’s a people issue,” he said. “One that needs both men and women to believe in equality to make it happen. No one can do this alone.”

The campaign works by recruiting men all around the world in taking the pledge to join the campaign. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon was also at the launch and asked Watson if she could “wave her magic wand” to get rid of gender inequality.

He was the first to take the pledge that night and asked the audience to go home and join him in doing so. Currently there are over 160,000 men who have joined the gender conversation and have committed to standing up for women’s rights.