Malala Yousafzai as an Empowered Victim: The Media Narratives of Women's Education, Islam, and Modernity

• In Event: Poster Session 8
  In Poster Session: Women, Gender Gaps, and Education

Abstract

Malala Yousufzai has become a global icon of girls’ education and gender empowerment. Her activism has become an inspiration for organizations, groups, and individuals all over the world. Through conducting a discourse analysis of the US newspapers, we argue that this media discourse presents her not only as an agent but also as a victim. Our analysis reveals how this discourse modifies Malala Yousufzai’s own narrative to construct her as a symbol of the oppression of the Muslim societies as well as of the empowerment acquired through Western education and modernity. This analysis highlights critically engages with the global discourses of girls’ education and gender empowerment that produces the problematic dichotomies of modern West versus umondern Islam.

Authors

• Ayesha Khurshid, Florida State University

• Marline Guerrero, Florida State University