Rapinoe, Malala meet at women’s conference targeting common goal

Women of note encourage women to find their own voices at the Massachusetts Conference for Women

Noble Prize winner Malala Yousufzai, US football team captain and World Cup winner Megan Rapinoe and memoirist Tara Westover Thursday addressed the Massachusetts Conference for Women in Boston and urged the audience to elevate the status of women in the society.

All three women were keynote speakers at the conference where Malala emphasised on emancipation of women through education.

Just a couple of badass ladies @mPinoe and @Malala sitting around talking #MassWomen2019 pic.twitter.com/X2WyHW9IL6

— Kara Swisher (@karaswisher) December 12, 2019

“Education is more than just learning and reading, it is an emancipation for women and girls,” said the University of Oxford student who was attacked by Taliban in 2012 for attending school. “There are girls out there waiting for us to raise our voices for them. And I wanted that. I wanted people to speak out for me when I was out of school .... There are millions of Malalas out there and they need our voice.”

On the other hand, Rapinoe, who caught media’s eye after her fight for equal pay received widely-acclaimed support during the 2019 Fifa Women’s World Cup victory, urged women to invent a new system for themselves because the old one isn’t ‘designed for us’.

In the presence of greatness here wow🙏🤩. Loved meeting you @Malala TY @karaswisher for the pic! https://t.co/GhoAFl3T0D

— Megan Rapinoe (@mPinoe) December 12, 2019

“When you get up in the morning, put your Dr. [Christine] Blasey Ford blazer on. Put your Hillary Clinton pantsuit on. These are the passports and the fabrics that we need to go out into the world that we can use like a superhero cape. That’s how we’re going to change the world. Because the system wasn’t designed for us,” Rapinoe said.

She also talked about her pose which she struck after every goal she scored for the US football team.

“I did [the pose] once before, but it certainly took on a whole different meaning. It’s totally a clapback to any detractors, but it’s also a welcome to everyone else .... It’s just a joyful defiance, [expletive]-eating grin, chin tipped up," Rapinoe said.

Meanwhile, Westover found her voice when she first set foot in a classroom at 17 years old. She grew up on a remote mountain in Idaho with Mormon survivalists who were opposed to public education and the government. Westover studied on her own for a college entrance exam and ultimately earned a doctorate degree from the University of Cambridge.

“When I was growing up, I think I thought feminism was a cuss word. Like something you weren’t supposed to say out loud or you’d turn into one. Although that did turn out to be true,” Westover said. “What I learned from feminism is that you don’t have to believe other things about yourself. You have to come up with your own ideas about who you are and what you’re capable of doing.”

Other speakers at the conference included actress-activist Yara Shahidi and journalist Kara Swisher.