Piers Morgan went on a rant surrounding MTV's gender-neutral awards claiming that Emma Watson's acceptance speech for "best actor" was simply ridiculous.
The Beauty and the Beast star won the first ever gender-neutral acting award at this year's MTV Movie and TV Awards, bringing home that golden popcorn bucket for her role as Belle on Sunday night.
When she was announced as the winner of the category "best actor" by non-binary actor Asia Kate Dillon, Emma gave an empowering speech about the meaning of this revolutionary award:
"Firstly, I feel I have to say something about the award itself. The first acting award in history that doesn't separate nominees based on their sex says something about how we perceive the human experience. MTV's move to create a genderless award for acting will mean something different to everyone."
She went on to explain what the existence of a gender-neutral award means to her personally:
"But to me, it indicates that acting is about the ability to put yourself in someone else's shoes. And that doesn't need to be separated into two different categories."
Emma then showed her appreciation for Asia Kate Dillon, who raised awareness about the issues that come along with gendered awards earlier this year:
"This is very meaningful to me. Both to be winning the award and to be receiving it from you, Asia. Thank you for educating me in such... in such an inclusive, patient, and loving way. Thank you so much."
The 27-year-old British activist then reflected on why she thinks she might have won the award. The actress thanked the character of Belle for her admirable characteristics that form her curiosity, unwavering courage and passionate personality. When speaking about the movie Emma said:
"I'm so proud to be a part of a film that celebrates diversity, literacy, inclusion, joy, and love the way that this one does."
She received tremendous applause for her speech from left, right and center until talk show host Piers weighed in on Good Morning Britain:
"Gender neutral awards, just what the world was craving [...]."
He went on to ask a series of rhetorical questions to get across his point across:
"Should we ban the word man from life itself? Should nothing anymore be male or female?"
"Little babies just be little babies, no longer boys and girls? Should it all just be ended? Should we end gender as we know it? Is it the end of gender?", he asked sarcastically.
In my opinion, Piers Morgan's comments were flippant and unkind. They are the kind of comments that are easy to say things if you are in a privileged space like he is.
I think gender-neutral awards are exactly the kind of thing that the under-represented people of today's society are craving. It is simply one small step in the right direction.
We, as a society, are often careless with words, categories and the attribution of expectations. The word 'man' does not need to be banned. That is not what gender equality or non-gendered designations are about.
It's about removing limits and expectations that we place on an individual simply because of their gender. It's about representing those who don't want to be defined or can't identify with being just male or female.
The idea of "little babies just being little babies" isn't as crazy as Piers Morgan would have you believe. It would mean that a person could be born into this world without limits and gender expectations being placed upon them.
It would be a life lived candidly and full of endless opportunities - a life, in which nobody would have to waste time wondering if their actions are appropriate for a woman or man to do.
Therefore the answer to most of Piers Morgan's question is YES. We should end gender as we know it - as we were taught to know it by the historical and social conditions of times long past. And nothing should be labeled as male or female anymore if it restricts an individual in its existence and personal growth.
Period.
You can read more about why it was so important of MTV to introduce gender-neutral awards and how Asia Kate Dillon raised awareness about the issues of gendered awards by clicking here.
