Emma Watson and Malala Yousafzai: 'The definition of feminism is equality'
It turns out Emma Watson and Malala Yousafzai have a lot in common 鈥� especially their view on feminism.
The Harry Potter actress and Nobel Prize laureate, respectively, sat down for an interview Tuesday at the premiere of 鈥淗e Named Me Malala,鈥� a documentary about the 18-year-old Pakistani education activist. The 23-minute video was posted on Ms. Watson鈥檚 , and has now been viewed nearly 3 million times.
Watson, a UN ambassador for women, played the role of interviewer, and the two ended up bonding over an array of topics: their brothers, Hillary Clinton, their love for the book 鈥淎 Thousand Splendid Suns,鈥� and most importantly, the definition of feminism.
鈥淭his word 鈥榝eminist鈥� has been a very tricky word,鈥� the 18-year-old Malala says, to which Watson gasped in delight. But it gets better.
When I heard it for the first time, Malala goes on, 鈥淚 hesitated in saying 'I鈥檓 a feminist.' 鈥�
鈥淭hen after hearing your speech, when you said, 鈥榠f not now, when? if not me, who?鈥�,鈥� Malala says, referring to Watson鈥檚 about men participating in feminism, 鈥淚 decided there鈥檚 nothing wrong with calling yourself a feminist. I am a feminist, and we all should be feminists because feminism is another word for equality.鈥�
Of course, Watson ecstatically agrees. In the speech for her HeForShe campaign, she also questions the stigma around the punch-packing F-word.
鈥淚 decided I was a feminist and this seemed uncomplicated to me. But my recent research has shown me that feminism has become an unpopular word,鈥� she said in September 2014. 鈥淎pparently I am among the ranks of women whose expressions are seen as too strong, too aggressive, isolating, anti-men and, unattractive.鈥�
She鈥檚 right.
Following the onslaught of conservative backlash against radical second-wave feminism, 鈥渇eminism鈥� itself became less a philosophy, an ideal, and more an odium for opinionated, outspoken women 鈥� 鈥�,鈥� as Rush Limbaugh would call them.
But as proven by the splintering of the feminist movement in the 1970s, a misandry-based brand of feminism did certainly exist. Radicalists such as Andrea Dworkin etched a man-hating blemish onto the name of feminism, and because of this framing of it, many have .
Even powerful women have distanced themselves from the word. Meryl Streep made waves this fall when she . When asked if she鈥檇 call herself the apparently polemic term, the actress who once lobbied for the Equal Rights Amendment answered, 鈥淚 am a humanist. I am for a nice easy balance.鈥�
Fellow actors Sarah Jessica Parker, Marion Cotillard, and Susan Sarandon have all voiced similar sentiments: that 鈥渇eminism鈥� is too divisive, and that it doesn鈥檛 quite reflect the spirit of egalitarianism.
But as gender theorists like Judith Butler have postulated, the ideals of feminism and humanism . Both ideologies strive for equality on some level, but feminism delineates human rights within a context of patriarchal political mechanisms.
Perhaps then, when alluding to feminism, for people like Watson and Malala, the underlying notion is that current political and social institutions are skewed to favor men, and as long as this is the case, feminist politics is necessary.
Regardless of its divisive connotations, feminism was a source of unity for the two female role models in Tuesday鈥檚 interview. For Watson and Malala, the F-word goes back to the basics: equality.
鈥淚t鈥檚 wonderful when people embrace it, because it鈥檚 synonymous with equality,鈥� Watson says.
Malala agrees: 鈥淧eople have forgotten its definition.鈥�
