Brand Malala

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         Daou 1

David Daou

Professor Adra

English 203

26 September 2015

Interpretation : “Brand Malala”: Western Exploitation of a Schoolgirl.

            This text is a blog post by Carol Anne Grayson  about Malala Yousafzai and the way the West took profit of her situation to further their political agenda . Malala is a young schoolgirl and the sole survivor of a Taliban attack on a school bus . She was later taken to the UK for medical treatment and her story was heavily mediatized by the western press.

            From a social perspective, this text was written to show the true intentions of the West when they extradited Malala after her the attempt on her life which was used to justify and to prolong western occupation of the region, which in part caused the instability that led to this attempt. According to Grayson , her treatment  was not out  of the goodness of their heart ,when she said:” What press usually fail to mention is how Britain and its allies are failing miserably on ‘gender justice’ back home”(Grayson 594).

            From an emotional perspective , the author has an angry tone thinking about young subjects of torture whose stories were briefly covered up by the press or weren’t covered at all:

“It would seem that there is something of a two tier system care going on here and it is understandable that this will raise questions as how to we define a “deserving “ case .I have met many juvenile survivors of torture, outspoken activists on human rights so what makes one more deserving than another?(Grayson 595)

The author is also worried about the way Malala is being used and placed in the spotlight endangering her life when her only goal was education for all when she declares :

What is disturbing also is that we are told in the film which area of Birmingham Malala now goes to school , careless words given threats to target her once again repeated from Taliban. Can we assume she will not be targeted in the UK?(Grayson 596)

            From a rhetorical perspective , this text is an argumentative essay containing many elements worth interpreting. For example the quotes when showing the irony of a situation : “mentors” , ”Collateral damage”, ”Alliance”, ”Gender justice”, ”Pride of Britain” (Grayson 593-596). She also says with  irony:

Then of course we are gearing up for the Nobel Peace Prize with Malala a firm favorite to take the award .Putin’s heart must be sinking with Malala predicted to follow in the footsteps of champion of drones, supporter of targeted killings, President Barack Obama.(Grayson 596)

            From a logical perspective , this text debates about Malala's treatment by the West while the press forgets about the inequality between genders in the West and the other victims of the Taliban attacks or even those done by US drones. She states as evidence a similar case , where a  young victim ,Rigoberta Menchu  , started inventing facts and describing them as the reality due to western influence . She also accuses ex-Prime Minister Gordon Brown :

                       "in the valley of the blind , the one eyed man is king! Former Prime Minister, Gordon                           Brown, Malala's avid supporter, fits that description. He ias known as a mysoginist by                         his former work colleagues and to human rights campaigner for his refusal to address                           the plight  of widows whose husbands were unlawfully killed by the state(Grayson                               594).

Her conclusion is that Malala's situation is dramatic ,but what is more dramatic are the thousands of similar cases , common cases that occur, even in the UK , without the press lifting a finger :"this does not help the cause of any woman while one is being exploited and others are being suppressed.

            From an ethical point of view , the text's moral is that Malala's is not the only one who deserves special treatment. She is being used for political reasons by the same persons who commit dozens of similar crimes in the West and abroad.

Works Cited:

C. Anne Grayson