The oppressive nature of the Taliban regime has displaced and endangered many men, women, and children in the Middle East.  The Taliban’s extreme interpretations of Islamic law have produced strict policies and violence against minority groups, dissenters, and women. Malala Yousafzai is a young girl who grew up amid this political and social turbulence and is now an activist promoting education for females all over the world.  She understands how critical education is for humanity, not only because her father instilled its value within her, but because “education is neither Eastern or Western, it is human” (Malala).    

The prospect of westernizing youth, specifically girls, is a major concern for the Taliban (Malala). Malala, however, remains attached to many aspects of her culture even though she is pursuing an education, and in her opinion, “we should learn everything and then choose which path to follow” (Malala). For her, westernization remains a non-issue because an educated individual observes the world in its entirety- respecting and understanding the good and the bad. This is in contrast to Rigoberta Menchu, an indigenous Guatemalan of Mayan descent, who is cautioned to avoid the education system  in order to preserve her culture. A political activist fighting for the rights of the poor citizens of Guatemala in an organization called the CUC (Encyclopedia of World Biography), Rigoberta Menchu discusses the “secrets” which she is cautioned should remain buried and ingrained within the heart but protected from the government’s assimilatory ways. She says that “not even anthropologists or intellectuals, not matter how many books they have, can find out all our secrets” (Menchu). Menchu’s father proposed that “…schools take…customs away from us” (Menchu), and that education can warp our views of the world through the preference of certain cultural groups, like the Spaniards, within history.

This raises the question of how the values and views held by our elders influences how we perceive the world. Malala embraces her culture and shares it through stories of Malalai and the Butkara ruins with a reverence that echoes through her father and the generations before him. Menchu wants to keep her identity through the conflict and discrimination that courses through Guatemala, and does not share who she is because “if [she doesn’t] protect [her] ancestors’ secrets, [she’ll] be responsible for killing them” (Menchu). They are both in similar states of repression, and both proud of their heritage, but their upbringings contrast heavily and consequently, the way they represent themselves differ.

Another critical question to ask is whether education that has been contaminated by elitist or authoritarian influences is worth pursuing. The extreme view that the Taliban take on Sharia law would definitely have interfered with the religious teachings Malala received and interfered with certain aspects of her education. But the fact remains that Malala has an in depth understanding of history and other subjects, as well as a father always willing to share information. Rigid control of the educational system merely reminds society that there will always be a bias and influence on knowledge that is passed from one individual to the next.  What is significant is that Malala recognizes that nag, or honour, is not broken by dancing or singing in public, but by falling in the face of adversity. Rigoberta Menchu constructs walls that will not allow the government to impose its theories “…through religion, through dividing up the land, through schools, through books, through radio, through all things modern” (Menchu).

Ultimately, young women face tremendous challenges all over the world, attempting to secure the basic rights we take for granted in Canada. These women, men, and children, struggle to mend the holes in the fabric of whole cities, provinces, and countries. Culture is an integral part of globalization, and we have to ensure that we do not allow our heritage to disappear in a world intent on technological advancement, and organizations intent on political domination.

Citations:

Yousafzai, Malala, and Christina Lamb. I Am Malala: The Girl Who Stood Up for Education and Was Shot by the Taliban. Little, Brown and Company, 2013.

Menchú, Rigoberta, and Elisabeth Burgos-Debray. I, Rigoberta Menchú: An Indian Woman in Guatemala. Verso, 1984.

Rigoberta Menchu Biography, Encyclopedia of World Biographies, http://www.notablebiographies.com/Ma-Mo/Mench-Rigoberta.html, Accessed 19 Sept 2016.

Who Are The Taliban?, BBC News, 26 May 2016, http://www.bbc.com/news/world-south-asia-11451718, Accessed 19 Sept 2016