A fifteen years old girl was nearly killed in 2012 since she was one of the brave ones who wanted women to have the education and equal rights that they deserved, her name is Malala Yousafzai. Yousafzai is from Swat Valley, which is located in Pakistan. In Swat Valley women do not have rights or freedom. Inequality is a big problem in her community, women to not get respected, can not go to school, work, and they could not go out without a male relative with them. To Pakistanis, women were supposed to obey men, stay home, make food for the family, and have children; while men were going to school or working. Yousafzai did not think it was fair, which led her to fight for educational rights and freedom. She went through a lot just trying to gain her rights and freedom, such as: getting death threats, speaking out, and getting a bullet shot at her head by the Taliban (a terrorist group in her valley). Malala used the fear she was given, the emotional support her father gave her, and her eagerness to have equality and freedom as her motivation to make a change.
To begin with, Yousafzai had a lot of fear when she was trying to make a difference. As Yousafzai stated in 'I Am Malala: The Girl Who Stood Up for Education and Was Shot by the Taliban' Chapter 14, “Some people were afraid of ghosts, some of spiders or snakes - in those days we were afraid of our fellow human beings” (Yousafzai, 166). Therefore, the fact that usual things people were afraid of was not what was scary anymore, then Yousafzai knew she had to make a change. The author also mentions, “Mullahs from the TNSM preached that the earthquake was a warning from God. They said it was caused by women’s freedom and obscenity” (Yousafzai, 107). Based on the evidence the reader can take notice that the Mullahs used the earthquake as an advantage to scare women into not wanting to have freedom and equality. Fear was stuck in Swat Valley for as long as the terror of the Taliban were there and Yousafzai used it as a way to keep her motivated to make a difference.
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In addition, Yousafzai had a very supportive father by her side the whole time. When she was born, her father did not treat her any differently as he would have treated a male. “He even asked friends to throw dried fruits and coins into Malala’s cradle, something we usually do for boys” (Yousafzai, 17). This indicates that her father also believed that everyone should be treated with the same respect and rights. Yousafzai also claims, “I have a father who isn’t scared, who stands by me. He said, ‘you are a child and it’s your right to speak’” (Yousafzai, 141). The reader can infer that Yousafzai’s father was always encouraging her to stick up for her beliefs. Therefore, Yousafzai always had support from her family and supporters to keep her motivated.
Lastly, Yousafzai did not feel like she wanted freedom and equality but needed it. From the reading, we know “In the Holy Quran it is not written that men should go outside and women should work all day in home” (Yousafzai, 116). Yousafzai believes that if the Holy Quran does not imply inequality and taking women’s rights away, why would humans think they could be able to change that? Women should have to feel the need to give away their freedom and rights for no valid reason. Also mentioned in the text, “In Pakistan when women say they want independence, people think this means we want to obey our fathers, brothers, or husbands. But it does not mean that. It means we can make decisions ourselves, we want to be free to go to school or work” (Yousafzai, 219). The reader can clearly infer that women just want to have their rights, not disobey and rebel. Women’s rights were Yousafzai’s top priority.
As a sum up, all the fear, eagerness, and support to have equality and freedom that Malala Yousafzai had motivated her to change Swat Valley. Fear was roaming in that period of time in Swat Valley and Yousafzai used it as a way to keep her motivated in her situation. Having a supportive father was a great impact on Yousafzai. Her strong beliefs reflected on her passion to never give up no matter how hard the obstacle is or how much anyone can struggle, she was always motivated to keep on going and make a change on her home Swat Valley.
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