“It is very embarrassing,” he reportedly said. “It is rubbish, just media hype. They just want a hero, and I fill the role model of a disabled genius. At least, I am disabled, but I am no genius.” Hawking was also a self-described feminist, telling British journalist Piers Morgan last year that he was concerned about equal representation in the private sector. “Women are at least the equals of men, or better,” he said.