Charles Darwin's Influence On Malala Yousafzai

Throughout the past 200 years, women have fought against male-dominated societies to gain the basic human rights of freedom, safety, and equality. Despite the significant progress that has been made by women and the United Nations, this ongoing struggle towards women’s rights is still felt in many parts of the world today. Women and girls alike continue to be oppressed, and must fight against the authorities that try to abase them. One of Pakistan’s most determined young women, Malala Yousafzai, spoke openly against the Taliban’s destruction of girls schools. This courageous act made Malala a target for the infamous Taliban. She survived their murder attempt, and became one of the world’s most recognizable female figures in the fight for
One of science’s most influential men, Charles Darwin, was a frustratingly sexist male who published several works detailing man’s superiority. In Descent, Darwin stated that, “Man is more courageous, pugnacious and energetic than woman, and has a more inventive genius. His brain is absolutely larger, but whether or not proportionately to his larger body, has not, I believe, been fully ascertained” (Darwin 1). He drew the conclusion that men have larger brains, and therefore are infinitely smarter and better at using their brains than women. In the same chapter, he continued with his imagined superiority of man. “The chief distinction in the intellectual powers of the two sexes is shewn by man's attaining to a higher eminence, in whatever he takes up, than can woman - whether requiring deep thought, reason, or imagination, or merely the use of the senses and hands” (Darwin 2). Darwin, who was widely regarded in the scientific community, published this work with no scientific backing. This influential man, who promoted incorrect evidence without solid facts, propagated the idea that men are superior in intelligence and skill level to women. Acts like that have continually set back equal gender rights. Almost 100 years prior to Darwin’s Descent, Mary Wollstonecraft was an active member behind women’s rights during the French Revolution. She wrote a heated letter to a French bishop who had
Beginning with the introduction of women’s rights during the French Revolution, all the way until Malala in today’s modern society, ladies have constantly been trying to gain awareness for this important social issue. Despite some progress being made in terms of freedoms and rights, gender inequality remains as a serious problem in every society. Malala, the voice of a young generation of women urging for equality, addressed the issue with a very simple statement. “Sometimes people like to ask me, why should girls go to school? Why is it important for them? But I think the more important question is: why shouldn’t they? Why shouldn’t they have this right?” (Topping). It is on the shoulders of the humans of today and the future to answer Malala’s question with a newfound liberty, peace, and equality.
Works Cited
Darwin, Charles. "Descent of Man." The Descent of Man, and Selection in Relation to Sex. John Murray, 1871. Print.
De Gouges, Olympe. The Declaration of the Rights of Woman. Paris, 1791. Print.
France. Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen. Paris: L'Imprimerie De Baudoin, 1789. Print.
"Human Development Reports." Table 4: Gender Inequality Index. United Nations Development Programme. Web. 20 Feb.