Meredith's Blog

Evan Aluyen’s post about Malala Yousafzai was particularly striking, for it’s evaluative comments on censorship. His main arguments involved the positive elements of censorship, in that officials reserve the right to censor the media produced in the country due to cultural sensitivity. He also made the point though that banning the book is a violation of personal rights, and that it provides valuable social, cultural and political information to students. These paradigms come from a cultural and educational aspect, and I hope to contribute to the issue of the censorship of her book and others like it from a political sense.

Primarily, in case of politics, the censorship of Yousafzai’s book, entitled ‘I am Malala’ is not necessarily an apt political move. In its element as an autobiographical research site, the message that Yousafzai is presenting is meant to reach a multitude of people. When the Pakistani officials censor the novel, those already sympathetic to her cause are angered and creates dysfunction within society. From a Western perspective, it seems preposterous to censor books for their content not being appropriate to the masses, but this is something which has occurred many times in the past, including books like Judy  Blume’s book ‘Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret’. From a political standpoint, there are people who support but also negate censorship but it certainly does pose a problem for both Human Rights and for democracy. In the West, living in democratic society, freedom of speech is at the forefront of the rights that we have. This means that it sparks huge controversy when the media is censored, since we are aware of what we are not b. Ieing allowed to do. In the more Eastern societies where democracy does not permeate society, there is still controversy over censorship. This proves that regardless of location, silencing voices tends to limit artistic creativity in the future as well as causing problems with societal acceptance of the government.

It is important to note, however, that culture is being upheld by the Pakistan censorship of ‘I am Malala’. Its messages of dissension mean that not only does it not fall in line with the beliefs of the country, it is also limiting the religious freedom that some people value by bashing it within the book. While it is clear that religious freedom must be respected, it is the question of the morality of the religious and cultural values of the society being accepted at the cost of personal freedom. Many might argue that personal freedom comes above all else, but if Yousafzai’s book is limiting their cultural practices and views, it is possible that censorship can be a good thing in this case.