Brand Malala

Nadim Arasoghli

Ms. Dania Adra

English 203

26 September 2015

Brand Malala: Western Exploitation of a Schoolgirl

                From a social perspective, this article written by Carol Anne Grayson stresses that they are a lot of other girls that suffered and still suffer the same way Malala did but did not receive the same huge attention and fame that she got. What explains this is that basically, Malala’s mentors and supporters hypocritically exploit her for their own good: “She fits comfortably into the well- worn narrative of “rescuing” women from the east.” (Grayson, 594). This citation shows that Western politicians take advantage of Malala to support and continue their actions in Afghanistan (Saving females from the Taliban). As well the following citation: “Wavering a fee will no doubt be compensated by the value of the publicity she will bring to the company.” (Grayson, 596) shows that PR companies use her as a tool that will cash-in a lot of money.

                Emotionally speaking, Grayson is pretty serious and straight-forward. She doesn’t get comical but rather targets the issue with seriousness at all times. The way she talks shows that she wants the world to know what is actually happening (That there are a lot of girls suffering but only Malala received such attention, and that supporters of Malala are actually hypocrites that work for their own sake) because what’s behind the scenes might not be that obvious. Her emotionless bluntness is a solid sign of her being serious. “The old saying comes to mind… “in the valley of the blind, the one eyed ‘man’ is king”! Former Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, Malala’s avid supporter, fits that description.” (Grayson, 594) for instance shows that Grayson is publicly denouncing a Political figure to actually strongly express her ideas and what might be reality to her. Despite criticizing the supporters of Malala, Grayson actually respects her and has nothing against her personally, but rather against her promoters: “My issue is not with Malala, I support and respect her wish of education for all […]” (Grayson, 593).

                From a rhetoric perspective, the text is a pure, argumentative non fictional impersonal text that targets a specific issue in the society (Malala and her fame). Grayson might alternate between short and long sentence but in both cases she uses a clear, noncomplex language in order to simply prove her point to the audience. Her arguments are always supported by examples. For instance, “Since the shooting of Malala, western politicians and media alike have seized upon a very profitable “alliance” with the young Pakistani schoolgirl.” (Grayson, 593) is supported by “Let’s face it an entire war was waged according to some to “save” Afghanistan’s females from the Taliban.” (Grayson, 593). The author also uses rhetorical questions to emphasize on obvious yet important points: “I wonder, how many people can name the other girls injured when Malala was shot? What quality of care and support did they receive? Are they represented by PR companies?” (Grayson, 596). The author is pretty straight-forward and therefore uses primarily simple arguments and avoids metaphors and parallelism that get a bit artistic. 

               This logical text debates that Malala received an unequal fame for something that a lot of other women experienced as well. The text concludes that it is the fault of the hypocrites and powerful supporters and promoters of Malala that made this happen (PR companies promoting Malala, head of western governments supporting her, etc.). The inducted conclusion is pretty convincing because it is based on solid arguments illustrated by real life examples. Despite the absence of counter-arguments, the text remains convincing thanks to solid arguments provided by a serious tone.

                Grayson’s ethical text points that everybody should be treated equally and the hypocritical actions that happen behind the doors and that are often encouraged by money should stop. In the United Kingdom specially, both genders should be treated equally because it is not always the case: “He is known as a misogynist by his former work colleagues and to human rights campaigners for his refusal to address the plight of widows whose husbands were unlawfully killed by the state see my earlier story” (Grayson, 594). It is also advised to stop supporting incorrect actions using the mere things (For instance start a war in Afghanistan in order to save females from Taliban), and mask bad actions by supporting good actions (UK politician supporting Malala but ignoring local gender inequality).

Works Cited

Sinno Z., R., Bioghlu-Karkanawi L., Fleszar D., N. Jarkas, Moughabghab E., Nish J. M., RantisiR., Ward A. (Eds.). Shifting Narratives: A Reader for Academic Writing. Educart (MiddleEast)

Publishing: Beirut, 2015.