Running head: I AM MALALA 1
I am Malala
Rebekah Handy and Estefania Whitesell
Liberty University
COMS 624
July 5, 2017
I AM MALALA 2
Abstract
Every person has the right to an education. This paper will use the story of Malala Yousafzai as
the foundation in speaking on gender equality and women’s rights to an education. This global
issue presents fewer opportunities for women than men. Opportunities to have an education may
vary among women and men around the word. However, there is less access to education for
women in Pakistan; women are exposed to a greater health and safety risk as. This report will
show information on the benefits of women being able to have access to education. Furthermore,
the authors will briefly cover Malala Yousafzai’s story and how she survived through the
challenges in her society when trying to go to school. The analysis will also include connections
to Social Construction Theory and how some gender role constructs certain influence aspects of
society. Lastly, we will conclude on how this relates to women’s rights, education, and
empowerment.
Keywords: Education, women’s rights, Malala Yousafzai
I AM MALALA 3
I Am Malala
Malala is strong in her Islamic faith and her love for Allah, which is the Muslim name for
God. Her morals and beliefs clash with the Taliban. This is a violent Muslim group based in
Afghanistan. The Taliban follow the Quran. The Quran dictates that women should live their
lives by not being in the eye of the public. This requires women to wear a burqa in public, only
talk to men in their family, and refrain from seeking an education. Malala disagreed with the
Taliban. She was raised to believe that a woman can receive an education, go in public without
their face covered, and still be in the grace of Allah. Malala talks in her book how she and her
family disagreed with the Taliban’s interpretation of Islam. On Tuesday, October 9, 2012, two
men stepped into the road and stopped the bus that Malala Yousafzai was riding home from
school. Malala recalled, “my friends say he fired three shots, one after another. The first went
through my left eye socket and out under my left shoulder” (Yousafzai, 2013). Malala Yousafzai
stood up for education and was shot by the Taliban. Her reality was greatly affected when she
was shot. She woke up in a hospital, in a new country writhing in pain and fear, only to realize
that she would not be going home to Pakistan.
Malala’s childhood and life took place in the Swat Valley, it all had specific
characteristics when she grew up in Pakistan before the Taliban took over. Her father, Ziauddin,
ran a school and taught Malala the importance of education for everyone. He also spoke at events
campaigning for girls’ education, with Malala by his side. Malala’s mother, Tor Pekai, came from
a long line of strong women and was proud to be the only female in a school of boys. She
eventually decided to stop going because she was the only girl in school, and she saw her friends
at home playing. Malala was close to both of her parents and had the encouragement from them
to seek an education. This wasn’t the case for other females in this country.
I AM MALALA 4
The Taliban conflict developed, and girls were prohibited to go to school. The gender
bias in Pakistan is still a harsh reality, and education is discouraged for women. Per the author,
“Pakistan is a signatory of various international protocols, but the society does not visualize
women as potential contributing partners in the social life. The cultural constraints and the
religious bonds pose a major resistance to implement the policies for the uplift of the women”
(Journal of Gender and Social Issues, 2012). Even though the Taliban attempted to kill Malala,
she survived and woke up to find out she was being supported worldwide. She recovered from
the incident and began her journey to be an ambassador for women’s rights and education.
Women’s Reality About Education in Pakistan Society
The book “I am Malala” is a great eye opener for the rest of the world; it gives
perspective about women’s reality in Eastern cultures, specifically Pakistan. In Western cultures,
women’s reality looks very different than Pakistan. In the Western societies, there are many
aspects of women’s lives that can be taken for granted or simply assumed they exist, for
example, education, voting rights, working rights, clothing, family, and simply the role of the
woman in society. It can be hard to picture the role of the woman being any different from what
it is today. However, in other parts of the world women do not have their situation easy.
Social attitudes and the government’s passive approach make it difficult for women to
pursue an education freely in Pakistan. “Very few serious efforts were made to educate women,
which faced strong resistance from the male-dominated society. The reason for this resistance is
often claimed to be the orthodox Muslim society” ("Women’s Education," 2012, p. 1). The
government of Pakistan has tried to implement various programs for women’s education and
empowerment but has come up with difficulties due to the lack of planning, coordination, and
support of various agencies and institutions; the most important reason was that women
I AM MALALA 5
empowerment would be recognized as a threat to the existing order ("Women’s Education,"
2012). Women in Pakistan are supposed to act as servants in the household, and the society
perceives that “giving the right of education to a girl may divert her attention from her household
responsibilities” ("Women’s Education," 2012, p. 2). Furthermore, the religious perspective on
education for women makes the situation even more complicated.
There are plenty of hurdles that girls have to go through to pursue an education in
Pakistan. First, poverty is one of the major current problems Pakistan is dealing with. Families
have to decide where to spend their heritage; they can spend it on the men who will carry out the
family name and economy of the family or the women/girls who will ultimately leave the
household. Second, the attitude mothers have towards their daughters pursuing education is
another obstacle. Women who are uneducated don’t understand the pursuit of their daughters for
a better future but see it as the daughters not helping enough in the household. It is typical for
families with many siblings to have “little daughters act as little mothers to their siblings”
("Women’s Education," 2012, p. 2).
Third, there are religious and moral implications around this issue. A large section of the
rural class considers it immoral for a girl to accept work because this is the obligation of the
man. Clerics and uneducated landlords very often qualify the fact of women studying as an “un-
Islamic” practice ("Women’s Education," 2012). A study about this issue revealed that “the
average Muslim cannot dare to defy the local Imams in rural areas. They are not free to send
their daughters for modern education because of the fear of fatwa” ("Women’s Education," 2012,
p. 3). Adding to this matter, the Taliban and other political groups extend these prohibitions
against women in different areas of Pakistan. “Women cannot go out of the home, but at the
I AM MALALA 6
same time they have to play a strong role in agriculture outside of the home” ("Women’s
Education," 2012, p. 4).
Fourth, there are cultural and safety concerns that also influence women’s education in
Pakistan. The culture perceives many children in the family as a blessing for God; this matter
contributes to the poverty of Pakistan and how families expect the children to work instead of
pursuing education. Plenty of families are more concerned about food and shelter. Lastly,
criminality in Pakistan is increasing, and girls are in danger of sexual harassment, kidnapping,
verbal and physical abuse. It becomes the responsibility of the males in the family to protect
them and consequently protect them when they are going to school; even if the school is 5
minutes away ("Women’s Education," 2012).
Importance and Benefits of Women’s Education for the Development of Pakistan
Corruption, means of transportation, gender bias, extreme interpretation of Islam, among
other things are added to the list of reasons why women have it so difficult to pursue an
education in Pakistan. It is no surprise that the state of education shows very low statistics in
literacy; the effects are reflected in the development of Pakistan. “According to the United
Nations Development Program Index for 2010, Pakistan ranked 123 in the world gender
inequality index” (Awan, 2016, p. 2). According to Awan (2016), the literacy rates don’t show
much progress:
The percentages of male/female population for secondary education (2006-2010),
remained 43.1/18.3, respectively. A 1997 study stated the overall male literacy of
Pakistan at 52%, whereas the female literacy rate was well below 20%. Punjab
constitutes approximately 60% of the country’s population, and according to 2011
estimations, the female/male number is 48.75 and 44.25 million respectively. (p.209)
I AM MALALA 7
The education reality for women in Pakistan doesn’t only hinder women’s development
and growth; it also hinders the development of the country affecting public health and poverty
issues. Hakim and Mehmood (1984 and 1985) as cited in Awan (2016) stated that “Women with
no education have a higher mean number of children ever born compared to those with some
education” (p. 213). The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (2004) with reference
to developing countries of the “Southern Region” as cited in Awan (2016) suggested the
following:
Education is absolutely crucial to development because the school can serve as
means of passing on basic standards of hygiene. This means that education can make a
real contribution to public health.[…]The shortcomings of public health facilities, the
education deficit, uncontrolled urbanization, irregularities in the labor market and
unchecked population growth are the major domestic obstacles to the development in the
South (p.212).
In Punjab not only is there a low literacy rate of women but also a lack of medical
facilities available to them; they have feeble health conditions very often (Awan, 2016). It is as
well so that the available health facilities for Pakistani women also depend on their financial
condition; the government facilities are inadequate. Awan (2016) points out that “private clinics
and hospitals are enormously expensive, if available” (p. 212). It is a vicious circle of poverty,
difficulty, and obstacles to pursuit education, that influence the health and family size
management, which will ultimately cause more poverty if it keeps growing in those
circumstances. According to the World Bank (2000) as cited in Awan (2016) “women are the
single most influential investment that can be made in the developing world” (p. 214) because
women’s education promotes not only smaller families but also economic growth. Some
I AM MALALA 8
Pakistani women have had access to education, which is the case of Malala Yousafzai. Her
attempts for the women’s education cause support the argument of women’s empowerment in
society and the positive consequences this has.
There are tangible benefits of women and girls receiving an education. Education brings
cultural changes and plays an important role enabling girls and women to secure other rights.
With education, girls are respected in the society and participate in all cultural activities.
According to Girls Speak Out, Plan International, “60% of girls in Pakistan rarely or never feel
confident to speak, and be heard in the presence of boys and men” (Girls Speak Out, 2015). They
are working to change the social norm by using mass and social media, technology and girl-
centered tools. They want to engage the community and challenge individual and social barriers
that are holding girls and their communities back (Girls Speak Out, 2015). With education,
women can receive and will have better health and awareness.
The World Health Organization released a report that analyzed the progress on
commitments to the Global Strategy for Women’s and Children’s Health. In the report, they
stated they would be “recruiting and/or training health workers, establish new/improve existing
facilities, inform, and educate the public about promoting healthy behaviors” (WHO, 2012).
Through this, women will become knowledgeable about health education, thus reducing sexually
transmitted diseases. Young girls and women that currently have limited access to maternal
health will become informed decision-makers of their own health and their children.
Women’s Education and Empowerment in Pakistan
Empowerment of individuals is an important concept to ponder. Individuals have to
overcome insecurities and obstacles to make things happen for themselves in life. This reality is
applicable in different societies around the world for both genders. Therefore, the word
I AM MALALA 9
‘empowerment’ gets thrown around very often in different contexts, especially, the Western
culture’s workforce. In Western cultures, the gender differentiation of empowerment means
something very different than what it would mean in an Eastern society, for example, Pakistan;
this is so because of the fundamental differences in how genders are perceived in these cultures.
Sire (2015) talks about the concept of a pluralistic world. He describes that around the world
“there are nations where most people deny what our nation holds dear. There are religions in
India or Asia or Africa that dramatically oppose our own, whatever it is” (p.158) This gender and
education issue happens to be a perfect example of cultural opposing views.
The general concept of empowerment could be something in the lines of “options, choice,
control, and power. […] the ability to affect one’s own well-being and make strategic life
choices” (Noureen, 2015, p. 3). This general definition is appropriate for both genders in Western
society. If the context of society for women is taken into consideration, a more appropriate
definition of empowerment would be the one provided by the United Nations Population
Information Network (POPIN, n.d.) as cited in Malik & Courtney (2010)
Women’s empowerment has five components: women’s sense of self-worth; their
right
to have and to determine choices; their right to have access to opportunities and
resources; their right to have the power to control their own lives, both within and outside
the home; and their ability to influence the direction of social change to create a more just
social and economic order, nationally and internationally. (p. 30)
Consider a society where women don’t enforce their rights given to them by law and
where society condemns education. In Pakistan, women will often pass on claiming their rights
extended to them by law because of the consequences that may follow them after they do so.
I AM MALALA 10
There is violence for women in Pakistan that causes fear. “This extends to a situation where laws
designed to establish greater gender parity remain largely ineffective, due to forceful societal
means of influencing women to refrain from claiming the rights granted to them by law” (Malik
& Courtney, 2010, p. 29)
According to Malik & Courtney (2010) and their study, Pakistani women they
interviewed expressed their satisfaction of being independent and being responsible for their own
money: “I’m so happy that I’m not dependent on any man for my living and I don’t intend to be.
My earnings are my own, though I spend it mostly on household needs as my husband’s
income is not enough and I want to give the best to my children. (Interview quote, faculty
member)” (p. 37). This is just a glimpse of the positive effects work, and education gives to
women in Pakistan. However, the difficulties and hurdles still exist. The government in Pakistan
cannot change reality overnight; reality is influenced by societal paradigms and also Islamic
influence: “The current political environment undoubtedly promotes women’s educational
opportunities, but cultural attitudes towards the education of girls remain strongly biased and
largely unchanged” (Malik & Courtney, 2010, p. 32).cc
Social Construction Theory and Gender in Pakistan and The World
Social construction theory is a valuable contribution to the understanding of social
dynamics and what may be called a worldview. Vera (2016) tries to rebuild and simplify the
understanding of Berger and Luckmann’s Social construction theory concept:
Social construction draws attention to what people conceive to be real and what is
taken for granted while conducting everyday life. Those definitions of what is real have
to be sustained by institutions, explained by legitimations, and maintained by social and
symbolic mechanisms. (p. 4)
I AM MALALA 11
This communication theory is very relevant to this topic as it exposes the constructs of
reality for women in Pakistan and the world. Noureen (2015) explained how gender identity
paradigms are formed very early in life and how this affects women culturally. Constructs of how
reality should be can be found in reactions of families when a child is born, as well as the colors
of their clothing and decisions that are made corresponding their gender. Bussey, Bandura,
Golombok, and Fivush as cited in Noreen (2015) noted:
Human differentiation on the basis of gender is a fundamental phenomenon that
affects virtually every aspect of people’s daily lives. Gender identity develops through a
process of differentiation, interactions of biological, social, and cognitive learning factors
that occur over time. This differentiation arises right from the moment of a baby’s birth.
When a baby is born, one of the first questions asked is: Is it a girl or a boy?
Female infants are dressed in pink and male infants are dressed in blue. From the first day
of life, human infants start living in a highly gendered world (p. 6)
The social constructs around gender continue in Pakistan when girls grow up. Pakistan
society has very defined roles and work divisions for men and women. Noureen (2015)
suggested the following:
The ideology of sexual division of work between men and women plays a central
role in constructing gender identities in Pakistan. This sexual division of labor assigns
different roles, rights, and responsibilities to man and woman. The research participants
described how gender identities are created among girls in Pakistani society:
My parents did not differentiate much between daughters and sons as far
as giving facilities, and schooling was concerned. But there was a difference
in training. For example, we (girls) were told not to go outside the home
I AM MALALA 12
alone. We were not allowed to go to the market, and our brothers used to
bring back things. (p. 6)
Khurshid (2016) argues that nowadays ‘gender equality’ is a very popular construct about
this issue. International development has focused on this paradigm trying to empower women
with education and the labor market. However, Khurshid suggests there needs to be a different
understanding of the construct of ‘gender equality’to ‘gender equity.' Unterhalter et al. (2013) as
cited in Khurshid (2016) suggested: “that the impact of women’s participation in the labor
market, […] as the most important goal of girls’schooling, is to be contextualized in the social,
cultural, and economic relations that men and women are part of.” (p. 7) Lastly, Khurshid noted
that income generated activities that women take part of do not automatically translate into
gender equality because they have a much more complex impact on women. Women take dual
roles and additional responsibilities when taking part in these activities. However, this reality
gets excluded from the construct of gender equality.
What happens in Pakistan, is what could be referred to as genetically constrained social
constructivism. This social construct is when “gender differences are determined partly by
genetic differences (e.g. different sex chromosomes) between men and women, partly by
environmental factors (e.g. cultural norms and social expectations)” (Lippert-Rasmussen, 2010,
p. 77). Lippert-Rasmussen (2010) discusses equality and biological gender issues. His views are
rather scandalous as they challenge biology and human design itself. However, his definition of
this construct fits perfectly with the reality of Pakistan society.
Conclusion
In society, there is a differentiation of gender everywhere in the world. By design, God
created us differently. However, the sin of the fallen world has distorted the role of the women
I AM MALALA 13
and in some instances, has brought oppression and abuse. In Western cultures, women’s situation
looks better than in Eastern cultures, regarding rights, empowerment, and education. Women
have a right to education regardless of where they live. Malala’s story exposes the reality of
women in Pakistan and how difficult it is for women to pursue and education under an Islamic
regime.
There are many obstacles women have to overcome in Pakistan to have an education.
Women’s education and rights are important in Pakistan and everywhere in the world. However,
the development of Pakistan and public health issues are also matters to be considered as to why
the pursuit of education in that region should continue to grow. Educated women take part in
thriving economies and contribute to development and growth. Public health issues are reduced
when the population altogether is better educated as well as the sizes of families.
Lastly, Social Construction Theory sheds plenty of light on the issue of gender roles and
helps understand the existing constructs of gender, education, and empowerment that take place
in Pakistan. Gender roles are constructed socially in all cultures of the world. Some of these
constructs would need to be adjusted, and the perspective on the issue would need to change to
have perceivable progress in the Pakistani women’s reality. Internationally, governments and
entities should be more involved and advocate for women’s education rights around the world,
especially in the Middle East. Education fosters the development of a nation and a better-
balanced understanding on women’s rights.
I AM MALALA 14
References
Awan, S. Z. (2016). Relevance of education for women’s empowerment in Punjab, Pakistan.
Journal of International Women’s Studies, 18(1), 208+. Retrieved from
http://ezproxy.liberty.edu/login?url=http://go.galegroup.com.ezproxy.liberty.edu/ps/i.do?
p=ITOF&sw=w&u=vic_liberty&v=2.1&it=r&id=GALE
%7CA472266434&sid=summon&asid=c5d45b11bbc0cf9937080f09ee6cadf5
Girleffect.org. (n.d.). http://www.girleffect.org/our-purpose/#&panel1-1
Khurshid, A. (2016, November). Domesticated gender (in) equality: Women’s education and
gender relations among rural communities in Pakistan. International Journal of
Educational Development, 51, 43-50. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ijedudev.2016.08.001
Lippert-Rasmussen, K. (2010, May). Gender constructions: The politics of biological constraints.
Distinktion: Scandinavian Journal of Social Theory, 11(1), 73-91.
Malik, S., & Courtney, K. (2010, June 04). Higher education and women’s empowerment in
Pakistan. Gender and Education, 23(1), 29-45.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/09540251003674071
Noureen, G. (2015). Education as a prerequisite to women’s empowerment in Pakistan. Women’s
Studies, 44(1), 1-22. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00497878.2014.971215
Sire, J. (2015). Naming the elephant (2nd ed.). Downers Grove, IL: Inter Varsity Press.
Vera, H. (2016). Rebuilding a classic: The social construction of reality at 50. Cultural
Sociology, 10(1), 3-20. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1749975515617489
Women’s education in Pakistan: Cultural constraints and social challenges. (2012). Journal of
Gender and Social Issues, 11(1), 1-6. Retrieved from http://ezproxy.liberty.edu/login?
url=http://go.galegroup.com.ezproxy.liberty.edu/ps/i.do?
I AM MALALA 15
p=AONE&sw=w&u=vic_liberty&v=2.1&it=r&id=GALE
%7CA331898573&sid=summon&asid=bacbccd9ab4111e9e56862d0a686e022
World Health Organization. (2017, May 26). Leaving no one behind: Equity, gender, and human
rights policy to practice. Gender, Equity, and Human Rights. Retrieved from
http://www.who.int/gender-equity-rights/events/policy-to-practice/en/
Yousafzai, M. (2013). I am Malala. New York: Hachette Book Group.
