A girl, named Malala Yousafzai, bravely and wholeheartedly stood up for the education of girls after having it taken from her. She even wanted her enemy, the Taliban, to have “education for [their] children as well” (pacificism). But none of that would be possible if not for her father.
Her father, was not like others, he was different, because he did not follow all traditional values of the Pashtuns. In Pashtuns culture, when a boy is born it is common to shoot guns and to “throw dried fruits, sweets, and coins into [the] cradle,” (Yousafzai and Lamb 14) but for girls it was not to be done, “it’s a gloomy day when a daughter is born” for Pashtuns (Yousafzai and Lamb 13). However, he encouraged everyone to do the same for Malala (Yousafzai and Lamb 14). When the Taliban took over Swat Valley, beheading people in the middle of the streets, many were beginning to leave (Ellick), but not Malala’s father. Being “different from most Pashtun men,” he stayed (Yousafzai and Lamb 13).
Malala was influenced by her father’s thinking, how different it was from others. She was also influenced by Adam Ellick, from the New York Times, who was doing a documentary on Malala, who “bought [her]…. American TV programs like Ugly Betty” (Yousafzai and Lamb 163). Even Before this Malala had encounters with “Justin Bieber songs and Twilight movies” (Yousafzai and Lamb 7) These exposures helped her to dream of a better future and also helped her to move toward her goal.
But I ponder if she needed western thinking, like her fathers, to see what she wanted was possible? Do we need to see the existence of what we want, in order to chase it? Or can we chase our hopes blindly? Do we have to see it done in another place, for us to also strive for it? Park Yeon-mi, a girl from Korea, was able to overcome it after contact with the western world.
She had to live under the cruel laws of North Korea in the time of “North Korea’s black market generation” (“‘Watching Titanic . . . in My Country'”). However, this did not stop Park Yeon-mi from watching the movie Titanic, that opened her eyes to how much she could do in life and the limits placed on it by her country. She says that “everything in North Korea was about the leader” So it was shocking to her that, Jake in the Titanic, “gave his life for the woman and not for his country” (“‘Watching Titanic . . . in My Country'”). The mindset that the westerns had, motivated her to leave North Korea in 2007, and now “she works for the . . . Freedom Factory Co” to help bring attention to the hardships faced by those still in North Korea (“‘Watching Titanic . . . in My Country'”).
These two girls, had exposure to western thinking, which helped them to create change for those they wanted to help. They saw something so uncommon to them but it appealed to them. Is it only when we see something that is beyond what we know, that causes us to believe in it or has us strive for it? Both girls lived in a place where they were made to think limitedly, and not allowed to let their minds venture further to unexplored territories. And did not dare to, until influenced by her father and the titanic. Which begs the question is it the existence or the difference of thinking that inspired them?
Work Cited:
“Escaping From North Korea In Search Of Freedom | Yeonmi Park | One Young World”. YouTube. N.p., 2016. Web. 18 Sept. 2016.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ufhKWfPSQOw Accessed September 17, 2016
“‘Watching Titanic Made Me Realise Something Was Wrong in My Country,’ Says North Korean Defector.” The Guardian. Guardian News and Media, 2014. Web. 17 Sept. 2016.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/aug/26/north-korea-defector-titanic accessed September 17, 2016
“Reads Twilight, Listens To Bieber: Meet Youngest Nobel Peace Winner Malala – Firstpost“. Firstpost. N.p., 2014. Web. 18 Sept. 2016.
http://www.firstpost.com/world/reads-twilight-listens-to-beiber-meet-youngest-nobel-peace-winner-malala-1751343.html accessed September 17, 2016
pacificism, That. “That Time 16-Year-Old Malala Yousafzai Left Jon Stewart Speechless With A Comment About Pacificism“. Business Insider. N.p., 2016. Web. 18 Sept. 2016.
http://www.businessinsider.com/that-time-malala-yousafzai-left-jon-stewart-speechless-2015-6 accessed September 17, 2016
Ellick, Adam. “Class Dismissed In Swat Valley“. NYTimes.com – Video. N.p., 2016. Web. 18 Sept. 2016.
http://www.nytimes.com/video/world/asia/1194838044017/class-dismissed-in-swat-valley.html accessed September 17, 2016
Yousafzai, Malala and Christina Lamb. I Am Malala. Print.
Human way of thinking is constrained by what we know. For example, it is almost impossible to imagine what exists beyond our galaxy. What individuals know, what they can dream about, and what they can hope for are all subject to what has been introduced to them. Of course if Malala had never known what it meant to be educated she could not have been an advocate for universal access to education. Still, what she says might be considered radical because it pushes the status quo. It is not necessarily a “western” way of thinking, but a selfless and compassionate way of thinking. As the number of educated people increases, the number of people susceptible to extremist thinking decreases. Malala is less interested in creating a universal way of thinking, or expanding a “western” mindset, and more focused on creating equality between all people.