#BalanceforBetter: The Male Celebrities Fighting For Equality

Happy International Women’s Day Glossies! Today is the perfect opportunity to support the amazing women that surround you and recognise all their achievements. This year though, International Women’s Day isn’t just about celebrating the social, economic, political and cultural progress of women, it also marks the start of the new #BalanceforBetter campaign.

About The #BalanceforBetter Campaign

While the fight for equality has so far primarily been a female-led effort, this year’s International Women’s Day campaign encourages women and men to work together in creating a gender-balanced world. Find out more here.

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We all have a role to play! That’s why, instead of simply celebrating the brilliant women who inspire us here at GLOSSYBOX, I thought I’d introduce you to the male feminists who are helping to build a more equal world.

John Legend

Besides promoting female body positivity in his You & I (Nobody in the World) music video, the singer-songwriter is an outspoken advocate for justice and women’s rights. Speaking to feminist media brand MAKERS, he stated:

All men should be feminists. If men care about women’s rights the world will be a better place. We are better off when women are empowered – it leads to a better society.

David Schwimmer

After dating two women who had been victims of date rape and sexual abuse as children, the Friends actor has become sensitive to the issue of sexual abuse. In 2001, he became an active director of the Rape Treatment Center in Santa Monica, which specialises in helping victims of date rape and child rape. He also penned an article for NCB Newscondemning sexual harassment.

Barack Obama

In 2016, Barack Obama wrote an article in Glamour celebrating the progress women have made, but he also cautioned:

There’s still a lot of work to do to improve the prospects of women and girls.

In his efforts to support equal rights, he passed the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act in 2009, granting women, who are victim of pay discrimination, the right to challenge their unequal pay.

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Daniel Craig

He may be a serial womanizer on screen, but the 007 actor fully believes men and women deserve the same opportunities. In 2011, he starred in a video voiced over by Dame Judy Dench which highlighted inequalities between men and women, including the gender pay gap, unequal access to education, and differing social expectations.

Mark Ruffalo

Speaking at an abortion rights rally in Jackson Mississippi back in 2013, the actor read out an open letter recounting his mother’s 'harrowing experience' with an illegal abortion to generate support for women’s reproductive rights.

Ian Somerhalder

The Vampire Diaries actor’s own organisation, the Ian Somehalder Foundation, works alongside the Girls Impact The World Film Festivalto raise awareness about women’s issues, including education, maternal health, and violence against women and girls.

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Kiefer Sutherland

At the UN launch of the #HeForShe campaign, the Designated Survivor actor stated:

This is no longer about men or women. This is about women and men working together to craft a shared vision of human progress for all.

Sums up the #BalanceforBetter campaign perfectly too, don’t you think?

You don't need to be a woman to fight for women's rights Glossies. Your father, your brother, your partner, they're all part of this fight too. Let's all create a #BalanceforBetter together.