Taylor Swift Heaps Praise on Emma Watson's Feminist Agenda

Hollywood men have stepped up to support Emma Watson's HeForShe equality campaign, and now she has yet another famous fan: Taylor Swift. In an interview on French-Canadian talk show Tout Le Monde En Parle last night, Swift waxed poetic about the stand Watson has taken as a UN Women Goodwill Ambassador — particularly her impassioned speech on gender equality, in which she sought to squash the fallacy that feminism is "man-hating."

"I wish I was 12 years old and I'd been able to watch a video of my favorite actress explaining in such an intellectual, beautiful, poignant way the definition of feminism because I would have understood it and then earlier on in my life i would have proudly claimed that I was a feminist because I would've understood what the word means," Swift explained.

But Swift isn't just in the business of giving props, she has plenty to say herself. For one, she proudly calls herself a feminist, and has a message for women that aren't: "To say you're not a feminist means that you think men should have more rights and opportunities than women."

Furthermore, like Watson, she believes women dismiss feminism for the wrong reasons:

"So many girls out there say 'I'm not a feminist' because they think it means something angry or disgruntled or complaining," she said. "They picture like rioting and picketing, it is not that at all, it just simply means that you believe that women and men should have equal rights and opportunities."

True to sisterly form, when asked her opinion on what will help society achieve gender equality, Swift called for more woman-to-woman support.

"The one thing I do believe as a feminist is that in order for us to have gender equality we have to stop making it a girl fight and we have to stop being so interested in seeing girls trying to tear each other down – it has to be more about cheering each other on as women."

Practicing just what she preaches, when asked about Miley Cyrus, she applauded her fellow pop star's self-expression:

"I think that no other female artist should be able to tell me to wear less clothes and I'm not going to tell any other female artist to wear more clothes. As long as it's their idea, and they're expressing their sexuality or they're expressing their strength or it makes them feel like a woman to perform a certain way or dress a certain way… as long as it's coming from them and they're living their life on their own terms, I cheer them on."

We have huge admiration for Swift's spot-on outspokeness and are thoroughly inspired by the ripple effects of Emma Watson's feminist agenda. It's our hope that young women and men of Hollywood will continue to user their star power to fight for gender equality. Watch Swift's entire interview, below:

Related:

Emma Watson Demands Higher Representation of Women in Politics

The Famous Men Supporting the #HeForShe Gender Equality Campaign