18-year-old activist and 2014 Nobel Peace Prize recipient Malala Yousafzai is admired by people across the globe––even Emma Watson. At the premiere of her new film, He Named Me Malala, which documents Yousafzai’s courageous life, the inspirational young woman sat down with Watson at the Into Film Festival to discuss feminism, her initial struggle with the term and what finally made her identify herself as a feminist.
“This word ‘feminism,’ it has been a very tricky word,” said Yousafzai, when asked if men should be campaigning for womens’ rights. “When I heard it the first time, I heard some negative responses and some positive ones, and I hestitated in saying am I a feminist or not.”
Yousafzai continued, “And then, after hearing your speech, when you said, ‘If not now, when? If not me, who?’, I decided that there’s nothing wrong with calling yourself a feminist, because feminism is another word for equality.”
The speech Yousafzai is refering to is Watson’s 2014 HeForShe speech at the United Nations, where Watson is the UN Women Goodwill Ambassador.
Watson was clearly touched by Yousafzai’s words. “Wow, I am so moved to hear that,” she responded. “That’s absolutely amazing and I agree with you. It’s become this really difficult word, but I think it’s wonderful when people really do embrace it, because it should be synonymous with equality.”
Check out the full interview below, and get inspired by these amazing women.