Before sitting in my feminist theory class, I have always seen Malala Yousafzai as a brave young girl. For those who do not know her story, Malala is a young woman who was shot in the head by the Taliban for advocating for girls' education. Even after being shot, she is still very active in advocating for education rights for girls. She has even been awarded with the Nobel Peace prize for her efforts.
We were assigned to read her book, “I Am Malala,” for class, and after reading this book, I wasn’t sure how to feel about her. It seemed like the message she sends out wasn’t the same one that is in her book. It seemed like this book was written with a certain objective in mind.
I have written a list of reasons why I think we should question why Malala and her book are being promoted.
1. She refers to her higher being as “God” instead of “Allah."
While reading her book, the reader may take notice that when Malala discusses her faith, she refers to “God” instead of “Allah.” However, when she discusses her family’s faith, she refers to “Allah.” It makes me wonder if this was done to make a connection to her readers in the Global North.
2. The story makes it seem like she is one of us.
It is important to make a connection with your audience, but only to a certain degree. In the book, she talks about the desire to go back home and how she hates waking up early in the mornings. It made it seem like she was just a normal teenage girl in the United States. No matter how much the story tries to make us think of ourselves, we will never be able to relate. The terrorism we face is totally different than what she faced.
3. It’s hard to distinguish from the ghostwriter and Malala’s voice in the novel.
The ghostwriter for this novel is Christina Lamb, and she happens to be a war correspondent. It makes me wonder if any of biases about the wars in the Middle East were written into the book.
We should praise Malala. She is a smart and brave young woman. However, I believe we should examine her novel more carefully. Malala proclaims that she wants world peace, but it seems like the ghostwriter might have made the novel into propaganda about how we need to save these girls because they are just like your daughter. Have you read, “I Am Malala”? What are your opinions? And do you agree it comes off as problematic?
