I am so glad that the rest of the
world has finally decided to open their eyes to what I consider one of the
biggest human rights violations in the modern world: barring the right to an
education for females. What Malala has done is fearless and definitely deserves
recognition not only locally, but around the world. Her fearlessness is
allowing the wheels of change to finally come into motion in a society that
places very harsh restrictions on “the weaker sex.”
How did such a stereotype even
start, and what can we do to try and stop it? From early days, because of a
slighter body frame and, most importantly, the fact that women are the ones who
actually give birth, they have been held in slighter regard. No one bothered to
consider the fact that childbirth is not a sign of weakness, but rather
strength, and that a smaller physical frame does not indicate a smaller mental capacity.
Now, even in societies that have so-called “evolved,” stereotypes against women
exist in some fashion, pervading through the social and professional life of
females everywhere. In areas of the Middle East, however, this difference
extends to the extent that women cannot even have a social or professional life
if they had wanted to. Malala is absolutely right in insisting that every child,
whether male or female, should have the right to a good education; not only does having a good education generally
allow the child better job opportunities, but it adds to their base of knowledge
and aids in decision making.
Hopefully the awarding of the Human
Rights Prize to Malala is an indicator that not only are world leaders
everywhere recognizing the problem of inadequate education around the world,
but they are starting to put more emphasis on steps to minimize this terrible
problem.
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