Taylor Swift praises 'poignant' Emma Watson gender equality speech

Taylor Swift has spoken out in praise of Emma Watson's recent speech on gender equality.

The Harry Potter star gave a speech in September about feminism at the United Nations in New York in her role as their Goodwill Ambassador.

She spoke about their He For She campaign, which encourages men to fight in the gender equality battle too.

Speaking on Tout Le Monde En Parle, Swift suggested that the speech might help younger girls come to terms with the true beliefs of feminism.

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

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

Watch Emma Watson's speech below: