Emilia Clarke’s essay “The New Sexy” is exactly what we need to read on a day celebrating women
One of our favorite humans in the entire world has just made us love her all the more on this International Women’s Day. As a guest editor for the All Women Everywhere edition of The Huffington Post UK, Emilia Clarke wrote a personal essay entitled, “The New Sexy.” In it, she describes her feminist upbringing, how she sometimes feels like a “guilty feminist,” that she knows she can use her voice for good because of her fame, and how kindness is what’s sexy.
Honestly, Clarke’s essay should be required reading for everyone this International Women’s Day.
Clarke’s role as Daenerys Targaryen on Game of Thrones is #feministgoals. And the actress is proving with her Huffington Post essay that she’s a fierce khaleesi in her own right.
In it, she acknowledges how she was lucky enough to be raised in a family where she never questioned that she was equal to her brother. However, as she got older, she realized that gender inequality is a very real issue. One way she learned it firsthand is through the way the media treats her in regards to her nudity on Game of Thrones.
And she sometimes feels guilty since she believes she should be making an active effort for women’s rights each and every day.
Yet, she has a suggestion. She writes that — regardless of gender — people can use small acts of kindness to improve our world:
"For example, having the confidence to look someone in the eye, and speak to them as an equal, regardless of their gender, race or sexuality — that is kind. It is a small gesture towards showing that person that they are acknowledged. Imagine, just for a moment, that we all strive to be kinder to one another on a small, day by day, sincere level, wouldn't that actually feel really incredible?"
While she acknowledges that maybe “kindness” isn’t a cool word, Clarke perfectly explains why she think it’s “the new sexy.” She wrote:
"Because being kind is showing someone that they are seen and heard, and that they do indeed matter. And that's sexy."
It may be overwhelming to think how just one person can help create equality for all, but Clarke’s Women’s Day essay gives people a simple directive — just be kind. And like she said, it really will lead to incredible and instantaneous results.
