Men should step forward to make equal rights a reality, Malala Yousafzai tells Emma Watson

The two people in this post need no introduction. We all love and admire Malala Yousafzai, the youngest Nobel laureate and an advocate of women’s education, and Emma Watson, the actress who brought Hermione to life and is generally brilliant. And both of them got together for a talk. Predictably so, it was really, really good. Emma Watson posted a video on Facebook, in which she interviews the 18-year-old iconic activist and picks her brains on many things, from the documentary He Named Me Malala, directed by Davis Guggenheim, based on Malala’s life, to feminism. [caption id=“attachment_2496934” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Emma Watson and Malala Yousafzai. Facebook[/caption] Malala, answering Watson on the film, said that she doesn’t like seeing herself on television, but was pleased with documentary’s message of spreading education. “I want this movie to be not just a movie, but a movement,” Malala said to Watson. The two women also discussed feminism and equal rights for women. Malala highlighted men’s role in making equality a reality. “Men can’t think that some crazy feminists will come together and change everything, they have to step forward too to bring about change,” she said. “Interestingly, feminist has been a tricky word. When I first heard the word, I heard some negative responses and some positive ones. I hesitated in saying am I a feminist or not. Then after hearing your speech , when you said ‘if not me, who? If not now, when?’, I decided there’s nothing wrong in calling yourself a feminist. So, I am a feminist… Feminism is another word for equality,” Malala said on the topic of equality. Watson was visibly moved during the interview. “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,” Watson recounted in her Facebook post. The interview between to two young world icons for women’s rights and equality is inspiring and sheds light on on their beliefs. It is a must watch. Watch the full interview below:

Today I met Malala. She was giving, utterly graceful, compelling and intelligent. That might sound obvious but I was… Posted by Emma Watson on  Wednesday, 4 November 2015