If you’ve ever felt uncomfortable using the term “feminist” to describe yourself, Malala Yousafzai once had her doubts too. The Pakistani women’s activist, who has commanded the world’s attention through her cause, only warmed up to the term when she saw Emma Watson’s “He for She” campaign speech last year.
The speech, which Emma delivered at the UN, not only launched thousands of social media posts but also convinced Malala that the word didn’t merit all the wrong connotations attached to it after all.
Malala told Emma all about it as the latter interviewed the former at the premiere of Malala’s documentary, He Named Me Malala. She told Emma, “When I heard it the first time, I heard some negative responses and some positive ones. I hesitated in saying am I feminist or not? Then 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.”
Emma then posted a video of the interview on her Facebook and mentioned in a tweet how she was honored to have interviewed Malala.