Teenage activist Malala Yousafzai says United Nations goodwill ambassador and Harry Potter actress Emma Watson inspired her to embrace the word “feminist”.

The Nobel Peace Prize laureate met Watson at the premiere of He Named Me Malala, a documentary following the events leading up to and following the Taliban’s attack on the then 14-year-old Ms Yousafzai.

Last year Watson, a UN global goodwill ambassador for women, launched the HeForShe campaign in a speech that pushed for men to stand up for gender equality.

In a Q&A to open the Into Film Festival, Watson asked Ms Yousafzai about the documentary, the power of education and the goals of The Malala Fund for girls’ education.

Ms Yousafzai also addressed the question of whether she identified as a feminist, noting it was Watson’s HeForShe speech that inspired her to embrace the term.

“This word, feminism, it has been a very tricky word and when I heard it the first time, I heard some negative responses and some positive ones,” Ms Yousafzai said.

“I hesitated in saying am I a feminist or not and then after hearing your speech, when you said ‘if not now, when? If not me, who?’ I decided that there’s no way and there’s nothing wrong by calling yourself a feminist, and I am a feminist.”

Ms Yousafzai also acknowledged the role her father had played in her life, and echoed Watson’s message that men should step up for women’s rights.

“My father, he has set an example for all parents and all men that if we want equality and equal rights for women then men have to step forward,” she said.

“If we complain that women don’t get equality, don’t get equal rights, it means all the things are taken by men so they need to step back and say ‘we are here to support’.

“It can’t happen that it’s just a few women’s jobs or crazy feminists and they’re going to change it and things are going to be changed soon.

“It’s not going to happen like this. We all have to work together. That’s how change will come and this is the role that my father has taken.

Let’s join our hands and move together so we can make real change. Malala and I are pretty serious about it but we need you.

“He believes in women’s rights. He believes in equality and he calls himself a feminist.”

Watson posted a video of the meeting on Facebook.

“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,” Watson wrote.

“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.

“I’ve spoken before on what a controversial word feminism is currently. More recently, I am learning what a factionalised 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. Malala and I are pretty serious about it but we need you.”

Source: abc.net.au