Malala Yousafzai Says Emma Watson's #HeForShe Speech Made Her Decide She's A Feminist
Malala Yousafzai Says Emma Watson Made Her Decide She's A Feminist
Rachel Moss— The Huffington Post UK
Malala Yousafzai became a household name when she was shot in the head for speaking out about the Taliban's suppression of education for women.
But in an interview with Emma Watson on Wednesday, Yousafzai said she didn't actually identify as a feminist until she heard the actress' #HeForShe speech at the UN in 2014.
Yousafzai described feminism as a "tricky word", saying: "When I heard it for the first time I heard some negative responses and some positive ones. I hesitated in saying am I feminist or not."
Advertisement
She then added: "After hearing your speech I decided there’s no way and there’s nothing wrong by calling yourself a feminist. So I’m a feminist and we all should be a feminist because feminism is another word for equality."
Watson interviewed Yousafzai at the premiere of 'He Named Me Malala' - a documentary about the Nobel Peace Prize winner's life.
The actress posted a video of the interview on her official Facebook page, saying she considered Yousafzai identifying as a feminist as the "most moving" part of the day.
Advertisement
"To give you some background, I had initially planned to ask Malala whether or not she was a feminist but then researched to see whether she had used this word to describe herself," Watson wrote.
"Having seen that she hadn't, I decided to take the question out before the day of our interview.
"To my utter shock Malala put the question back into one of her own answers and identified herself. Maybe feminist isn't the easiest word to use... But she did it ANYWAY."
Yousafzai spoke about gender equality throughout the interview, saying: "Your gender should not create any difficulties in the decisions that you make.
"It's a very simple thing, it's about equality, it's about feminism and it's about saying that we're all human beings, so why are you separating us just because our gender is different?"
Today I met Malala. She was giving, utterly graceful, compelling and intelligent. That might sound obvious but I was struck by this even more in person. There are lots of NGOs out there in the world doing great things... But if there were one I would put my money on to succeed and make change on this planet, it would be hers. (The Malala Fund). Malala isn't messing around or mincing her words (one of the many reasons I love her). She has the strength of her convictions coupled with the kind of determination I rarely encounter... And it doesn't seem to have been diminished by the success she has already had. And lastly…She has a sense of peace around her. I leave this for last because it is perhaps the most important. Maybe as a result of what she has been through? I personally think it is just who she is…Perhaps the most moving moment of today for me was when Malala addressed the issue of feminism. To give you some background, I had initially planned to ask Malala whether or not she was a feminist but then researched to see whether she had used this word to describe herself. Having seen that she hadn't, I decided to take the question out before the day of our interview. To my utter shock Malala put the question back into one of her own answers and identified herself. Maybe feminist isn't the easiest word to use... But she did it ANYWAY. You can probably see in the interview how I felt about this. She also gave me time at the end of the Q&A to speak about some of my own work, which she most certainly didn't need to do, I was there to interview her. I think this gesture is so emblematic of what Malala and I went on to discuss. I've spoken before on what a controversial word feminism is currently. More recently, I am learning what a factionalized movement it is too. We are all moving towards the same goal. Let's not make it scary to say you're a feminist. I want to make it a welcoming and inclusive movement. Let's join our hands and move together so we can make real change. Malala and I are pretty serious about it but we need you. With love, Emma x#HeNamedMeMalala #notjustamovieamovement Malala Fund Into Film
Posted by Emma Watson on Wednesday, 4 November 2015
