Watch Emma Watson Interview Malala Yousafzai About Feminism

Emma Watson interviewed Malala Yousfzai yesterday at the premiere of ‘He Named Me Malala’ a documentary about the 18-year-old Nobel Peace Prize winner from Pakistan. Emma, A UN Women Global Goodwill Ambassador, ‘Today I met Malala,’ Emma wrote alongside the video of the interview on her Facebook page. ‘She was giving, utterly graceful, compelling and intelligent. That might sound obvious but I was struck by this even more in person.’

The documentary, directed by acclaimed documentary filmmaker Davis Gugenheim, is an intimate portrait of the teenager who was targeted by the Taliban in 2012 and shot in the head while travelling home from taking an exam at her school in the Swat valley in Pakistan.  Malala has been campaigning on women’s rights to an education since she was 12 and now lives with her family in the UK.

The interview was screened to over 10,000 school children and teachers in 80 cinemas across the UK.

The Q & A between Emma and Malala covered a variety of topics including education and Malala’s crusade to educate girls from her homeland, Pakistan. Malala also revealed that she wanted to be Prime Minister of Pakistan.

But it was the subject of feminism that sparked the greatest intrigue with Emma and Malala, with the teenager telling the former Harry Potter star that hearing the Harry Potter star’s speech to launch her ‘He for She’ campaign at the UN last year had made her change her mind on whether she regarded herself a feminist.

Initially Malala had thought ‘feminist’ was ‘a tricky word’ she said, but told Emma she has since changed her mind. ‘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. Men ‘have to step forward’ to promote equality of the sexes, she said.

On this subject, Emma wrote, ‘Perhaps the most moving moment of today for me was when Malala addressed the issue of feminism,’ she wrote. ‘T

‘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.’

Emma rounded-off saying, ‘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.’

By Emily Maddick