Book Report: Malala

I recently finished reading this book, which, written with the help of a ghost writer, is a first hand account of the atrocities committed by the Taliban against a young girl named Malala. She was a girl who just thought it was her right to go to school, just like we often take for granted in the Western world. She began campaigning throughout her native country of Pakistan for what I believe is a basic human right, the right to get an education, regardless of gender, ethnicity, or religion. However, her campaign was interrupted when a member of the Taliban shot her in the head on her way home from school one day. Yes, a grown man shot a 14 year old girl. Because he was afraid of what she had to say. 

Miraculously, she survived. And she remains a prominent voice in the quest for equal rights for girls and women in the Middle East and throughout the world. It's an inspiring book, and a quick read, if for no other reason than the fact that it shows you truly anything can be accomplished despite your circumstances. 

What made me particularly passionate about posting about this amazing young woman were the horrible events that took place this past week at University of California, Santa Barbara. Many don't know that I went to UCSB for a year before I transferred to UCLA. I was also in a sorority. My sorority was sister sorority with Alpha Phi my freshman year. I have been in that sorority house, those girls were my friends and classmates. 

I think that it's truly abhorrent that, in this day and age, young men still think that it's acceptable to think of women as objects. To think, like this misguided young man did, that they have a right to our minds and our bodies. To think that it's acceptable to retaliate with violence when we reject you or don't agree with you. The #yesallwomen hashtag that was trending this last weekend only serves to further emphasize that point, raising the question, why do we as women have to amend our behavior in order to make way for that of men?  Why should the women of UCSB have to live in fear because they didn't want to go on a date with some guy? Why should Malala and her classmates have to live in fear because they just wanted to go to school? 

I don't normally like to post about politics or current events, I'm not a politician or an expert, nor do I profess to be. But as this is a blog focused on the things that I love about being a girl, I think it's important to note that we still have so much more progress to make in this world to make it a safe place for all girls and women to do the things that make them love being a girl. #YesAllWomen. 

Until next time,

xo

T