Option 3 - Gideon Spencer

         Malala Yousafzai is a young and courageous Pakistani girl who is speaking up for equality between men and women in the Middle East. She is part of the few willing to fight the oppression of women, specifically in education. Comparing her to Edna, it is apparent they both share the empowering urge to raise females above the social stigma society implements on them. Dean Walter, of the New York Times, wrote a short article describing her shocking story. When Malala was 14, the Taliban boarded the school bus she was in and shot her in the face and neck. Two other classmates were injured in the attack but survived. Fortunately, Malala managed to live and lift her voice another day. Edna raised her voice through action, mostly in anything but peaceful ways. When her husband tells her to go to bed she blatantly shows her position of defiance disregarding any effort to maintain peace(Chopin, 34). Malala, on the other hand, shows utmost peace even through much harder times than Edna. In this way they are extremely different. She was invited to The Daily Show and told her story and position on the situation. Her most obvious expression of peace through the oppression can be seen at time 4:18 in the video clip.

         The oppression of women is still an ongoing problem in the Middle East. As Malala says, “that’s why the terrorist are afraid of education, because then the women will become more powerful.” The Muslim extremists understand the power of education and liberation of women through rights and that is what they fear. They fear it to the point of shooting a precious 14-year-old girl for merely raising her innocent voice in the midst of oppression. I think this angel is similar to Edna in that she is willing to break out of the social norm regardless of the consequences, but where she is different is in her maturity, wisdom, and peace even through results of greater consequences than Edna would have ever imagined. I pointed out a beautiful portion of the clip, but I advise the entire video is seen. It is absolutely brilliant.

News Article - http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/10/world/asia/teen-school-activist-malala-yousafzai-survives-hit-by-pakistani-taliban.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0