Close Menu
The Baylor Lariat
    Facebook X (Twitter) Instagram YouTube LinkedIn
    Trending
    • Baylor community unites in flash flood relief efforts
    • Baylor rescinds LGBTQIA+ inclusion research grant after backlash
    • Students react to emergency alert following campus lockdown
    • Baylor shelter-in-place lifted following police pursuit of robbery suspects
    • Baylor graduate charged after killing cats with pellet gun, hanging bodies over utility lines
    • Baylor Football’s Alex Foster dies at 18
    • Board of Regents confirms budget, renovations, new leadership in May meeting
    • How facilities responds to storms, flooding in campus buildings
    • About us
      • Spring 2025 Staff Page
      • Copyright Information
    • Contact
      • Contact Information
      • Letters to the Editor
      • Subscribe to The Morning Buzz
      • Department of Student Media
    • Employment
    • PDF Archives
    • RSS Feeds
    Facebook X (Twitter) Instagram YouTube LinkedIn
    The Baylor LariatThe Baylor Lariat
    Subscribe to the Morning Buzz
    Saturday, July 12
    • News
      • State and National News
        • State
        • National
      • Politics
        • 2025 Inauguration Page
        • Election Page
      • Homecoming Page
      • Baylor News
      • Waco Updates
      • Campus and Waco Crime
    • Arts & Life
      • Wedding Edition 2025
      • What to Do in Waco
      • Campus Culture
      • Indy and Belle
      • Sing 2025
      • Leisure and Travel
        • Leisure
        • Travel
          • Baylor in Ireland
      • Student Spotlight
      • Local Scene
        • Small Businesses
        • Social Media
      • Arts and Entertainment
        • Art
        • Fashion
        • Food
        • Literature
        • Music
        • Film and Television
    • Opinion
      • Editorials
      • Points of View
      • Lariat Letters
    • Sports
      • March Madness 2025
      • Football
      • Basketball
        • Men’s Basketball
        • Women’s Basketball
      • Soccer
      • Baseball
      • Softball
      • Volleyball
      • Equestrian
      • Cross Country and Track & Field
      • Acrobatics & Tumbling
      • Tennis
      • Golf
      • Pro Sports
      • Sports Takes
      • Club Sports
    • Lariat TV News
    • Multimedia
      • Video Features
      • Podcasts
        • Don’t Feed the Bears
      • Slideshows
    • Advertising
    The Baylor Lariat
    Home»Opinion»Editorials

    Editorial: Yousufzai an example for women: Fight for equality

    Baylor LariatBy Baylor LariatOctober 18, 2012 Editorials No Comments3 Mins Read
    Share
    Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Pinterest Email


    There are many things to be said about the Oct. 9 shooting of a 14-year-old schoolgirl by Taliban militants in Pakistan’s Swat Valley: that it was the action of cowards, that it highlights the importance of the right to free expression and that it serves as reminder of problems in the status of women both internationally and on the homefront.

    The story of Malala Yousufzai has since captured the attention of the international media. Should she recover, an event that seems likely as doctors treating her in Britain have released hopeful statements about her prognosis, the Taliban has vowed to finish her off.

    Yousufzai’s crime: she detailed her experiences as an 11-year-old schoolgirl living under the Taliban in Pakistan’s Swat Valley in a series of blog posts for BBC news. The attack on this young girl was not just an extreme act of violence against an individual. It is an attack on the value of the education of women and freedom of expression — something we, as journalists, view as paramount to the functioning of a society. To shoot Malala in an effort to silence her was tantamount to an attack on this principle.

    We are a society that holds the right to free expression dear: We recognize its usefulness in promoting stable and peaceful change and government by the people, who must be informed in order to serve as a valid electorate. This crime highlights what a disaster the lack of free expression can create. Residents of countries where this right is not protected must live in fear.

    The shooting occurred Oct. 9 – just two days before the UN’s international Day of the Girl, a movement to advocate for the interests of gender inequality nationally. It is important to remember that, although we struggle with issues of the equality (particularly in the workplace) here at home, in other nations some women are denied rights we take for granted. We must not forget them in our own march forward. We must consciously support those who advocate gender equality in other countries, and who may do so at their own peril.

    Young Yousufzai risked her life to promote the education of women – in order to advance the gender. Her struggle is our struggle. There are improvements to be made in our own society in terms of advancing women toward equality. According to statistics provided by the Institute for Women’s Policy Research, in 2010, on average women made 77 cents to every dollar earned by a man, an income gap of roughly 23 percent. In addition, outright discrimination based on gender continues to be a factor in hiring or promotions.

    These numbers are unacceptable in a country in which women have the means at their disposal — chiefly education — to rise without external limiting factors like sexual discrimination.

    In an age where more women are going to college than men, what is our excuse for not achieving gender equality in the workplace? In a country in which we don’t have to fear violent reprisal, why don’t we continue to bring the issue to the forefront of national debate? The struggle for equality is not yet dead.

    We must use these freedoms and opportunities to take up the relay for equality. Malala must hand off her torch— are we ready to receive it?

    Baylor Lariat

    Keep Reading

    Don’t believe myths about autism — reduce stigma by learning facts

    I never thought I’d miss my meal plan

    Violent predator catchers do more harm than good

    Lariat Letter: My pre-medical studies have shaped me into a better man

    It’s time to write more handwritten letters

    The end of the semester is just the beginning

    Add A Comment

    Comments are closed.

    Recent Posts
    • Baylor community unites in flash flood relief efforts July 9, 2025
    • Baylor rescinds LGBTQIA+ inclusion research grant after backlash July 9, 2025
    About

    The award-winning student newspaper of Baylor University since 1900.

    Articles, photos, and other works by staff of The Baylor Lariat are Copyright © Baylor® University. All rights reserved.

    Subscribe to the Morning Buzz

    Get the latest Lariat News by just Clicking Subscribe!

    Follow the Live Coverage
    Tweets by @bulariat

    Facebook X (Twitter) Instagram YouTube LinkedIn
    • Featured
    • News
    • Sports
    • Opinion
    • Arts and Life
    © 2025 ThemeSphere. Designed by ThemeSphere.

    Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.