From“Angel in the House”to“He For She”UN Women Global Goodwill Ambassador

李華

【摘要】“家中天使”是英國詩人考文垂.帕特莫爾在十九世紀中葉發表的一首詩，他在詩中描繪了維多利亞時代的極具耐心、自我犧牲的理想妻子的形象，反映了在那個時代的女性角色就是在家中相夫教子作賢妻良母。婦女運動發展到二十一世紀，英國女演員艾瑪·沃森做上了“他支持她”運動的聯合國世界婦女親善大使，承擔起了爭取兩性平等權利的重要職責，她現身說法發表了一篇鼓舞人心的演講，呼吁世界女性要表現出完整而真實的自我，這樣才能生活得更加自由。

【關鍵詞】“家中天使” 女性角色 維多利亞時代 “他支持她” 兩性平等

【Abstract】“Angel in the House” comes from the title of an immensely popular poem by Coventry Patmore in the19th century when depicting an ideal image of wife whose traditional role is to be devoted and submissive to her family in Victorian Era.With Feminist Movement marching into the 21st century， UK actress Emma Watson becomes a goodwill ambassador for “He For She” UN women global movement playing a positive role of fighting for gender equality.By telling her own experiences she delivers an inspiring speech calling for women to make more true and complete version of themselves so as to live more freely.

【Key words】“The Angel in the House”； wife's role； Victorian Era； “He For She”； gender equality

“Angel in the house” was originally a poem written by Coventry Patmore （1823-1896） who was a librarian by profession， and an Anglican by creed， but he later converted to Catholicism.Inspired by his new religion， he composed some of his best religious poetry.From childhood to grave Patmore believed that he had obligations to celebrate married love.In 1854 the first part of the long poem “The Angel in the House” appeared， and the complete poem was published in 1863.For Patmore， his wife Emily represented all that was perfect about a Victorian wife and head of the home.Following the publication of Patmore's poem， the term Angel in the House came to be used in reference to women who embodied the Victorian feminine ideal： a wife and mother who was selflessly devoted to her children and submissive to her husband.The popular Victorian image of the ideal wife or woman came to be “The Angel in the House” who was passive and powerless， meek， charming， graceful， sympathetic， self-sacrificing， pious， and above all-pure.Though the poem did not receive much attention when it was first published in 1854， it became increasingly popular through the rest of the nineteenth century and continued to be influential into the twentieth century.

What were women's roles in Victorian Era？ Queen Victoria's reign （1837-1901） was a period of intensive industrialization， urbanization， and social change during which a woman's place was in the home， as domesticity and motherhood were considered by society at large to be a sufficient emotional fulfillment for females.In the 19th century upper class and middle class women were not expected to earn their own living.women rarely had careers and most professions refused entry to women.Women played a central role of irresponsibility and domesticity， and the ideal of femininity was entailed in the idea of a “woman's mission”， which was that of playing a model mother， wife and daughter.The qualities a young Victorian gentle woman needed， were to be innocent， virtuous， dutiful and be ignorant of intellectual opinion.As the mid-Victorian boom got underway the demand for female and juvenile labor expanded.Urbanization created manifold opportunities for female employment.Thus most women in Victorian society， in the two thirds of the population below the upper and middle classes， worked for wages.Women's work was often part-time， casual， and not regarded as important enough to declare.With the emphasis primarily upon their role as wives and mothers， women workers did not usually see their occupation as a centrally defining characteristic of their lives， and therefore frequently failed to declare it.Women provided a flexible， cheap and adaptive workforce for factories and sweatshops， and had feminine skills associated with some of the most rapidly expanding consumer goods industries at the forefront of industrialization such as textiles， pottery and clothing.But working women had to shoulder the double burden of waged work and the bulk of household responsibilities， and where their role in politics remained marginal.They still lived the stereotyped role in Victorian society， struggling for more fair treatment in employment.endprint

On September 25 2014， Emma Watson the 24-year-old Harry Potter star was giving a very inspiring speech calling for men to play a greater role in ending gender inequality after she joined forces with UN women to launch the He For She organization.“He For She” is described as a “solidarity movement for gender equality that brings together one half of humanity in support of the other of humanity， for the entirety of humanity.” The UN Women He For She campaign aims to get 100，000 men and boys involved in the fight to achieve gender equality.

At the United Nations headquarters， Emma revealed the sexism she has experienced throughout her life， saying it started at the age of eight when she was branded “bossy” for wanting to direct school plays.She continued： “At 15 my girlfriends started dropping out of their sports teams because they didn't want to appear 'masculine'...at 18 my male friends were unable to express their feelings.”But she illustrated the reality that “No country in the world can yet say that they have achieved gender equality.”So she said，“Men — I would like to take this opportunity to extend your formal invitation.Gender equality is your issue too.”Then she continued to suggest that“If men dont have to be aggressive in order to be accepted， women wont feel compelled to be submissive.If men dont have to control， women wont have to be controlled.Both men and women should feel free to be sensitive.Both men and women should feel free to be strong… It is time that we all perceive gender on a spectrum instead of two sets of opposing ideals.”Just as the head of UN Women Phumzile Mlambo Ngcuka said，“Our main goal of He For She is to increase the involvement of men and boys in the struggle to achieve gender equality.It cannot be that women will do this alone， it remains an important women's issue that requires the whole of society， men and women， to be involved.”Along with Emma， they called on the world's fathers， sons， husbands and brothers to stand up and support equality for women in all areas of life.According to Inter-Parliamentary Union less that 22 percent of parliamentarians are women.There are also still 100 countries with laws that prevent women's meaningful involvement in the economy.Projections indicate that if things don't change it will take 95 years to achieve gender equality， and by 2020 and some 140，000 girls will be forced into child marriage.Those facts all indicate that gender equality still takes longer to be completely achieved.

From ideal domestic women who are dedicated to family to modern professional woman advocating for gender equality issues taken into consideration by both sexes， women's movement has undergone a long period of struggle against social stereotype and prejudice.Despite great achievement， there is still a long way to go to attain the goal of gender equality and freedom as women must first make a more true and complete version of themselves in various walks of life.

References：

[1]Anastasia Blackwood.The Roles of Women in the Victorian Era.http：//www.ehow.com/info_8104861_roles-women-victorian-era.html.

[2]Mei Renyi.2006.Contemporary College English V.P.61.Beijing： Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press.endprint