Brand Malala Interpretations

Laila Nasr

Ms Dania Adra

English 203

September 26, 2015

 The 5 Interpretations of “Brand Malala”

Carole Ann Grayson, in her text “Brand Malala”, attacks the Western and specifically UK government’s favouritism of Malala Yousafzai, in attempts to bring to light its hidden motives. The social implication this has is that by heavily focusing on Malala, they are deprioritising the issue of gender inequality in the UK, whilst focusing more on developing countries such as Pakistan. Grayson explicitly states the fundamental issue of society: “Exploitation of women whether emotionally, physically, financially is so ingrained in our society” – the text is not only about the exploitation of Malala by the media, but of a much larger issue; gender injustice (Grayson 594). By alluding to Rigoberta Menchu, Grayson discusses how history can repeat itself and seems to depict a similar path for Malala; becoming a Nobel prize nominee (Grayson 596). Similarly, Grayson’s choice of diction in the 15^th paragraph encompasses a greater issue, the use of the phrase “stage management behind the scenes” allows her readers to picture a movie theatre or a play, where Malala is the puppet and the media, politicians, and PR company are moving the strings to make a show (Grayson 596). This form of social criticism is key for Grayson to voice her thoughts that truly allow her readers to ponder on current events in the news.

By using business-related jargon, Grayson emphasises the pure exploitation of the young Pakistani girl in the media. Terms such as “commodity”, “profitable”, and “marketable” all point in the direction that Grayson is attempting to depict (Grayson 593-594). Through repetition and jargon, the writer expresses her emotional perspective, with attempts at projecting an objective view. This is highlighted by Grayson’s use of references and personal experiences with the media. The title of the blogpost itself, “Brand Malala”, conveys the dehumanisation that Malala is being faced with; she is merely a product that the West is promoting to fit their campaigns. Moreover, the claim that Grayson makes about Malala’s father and the BBC working together to promote her “diary for public consumption” accentuates the emotional appeal of this blogpost (Grayson 595).

The rhetorical perspective of this text is expressed is a few ways, firstly the text type is a blogpost and Grayson’s style of writing would suggest that this in an expository piece. Secondly, the blog is multimodal – incorporates both text and image – which conveys the immediacy of the topic that is at hand; images are easier and faster to process and thus add to the purpose of the blogpost. Lastly, Grayson’s cynical tone in the rhetorical questions she poses illustrate her perspective on the issue; how the media is selective to suit their agendas. In addition, the use of an anecdote to convey her thoughts on the UK’s former prime minister is an attention grabbing one – “in the valley of the blind, the one-eyed ‘man’ is king” (Grayson 594). This suggests that he seems to be suffering from an internal conflict, where he refused to aid the widows in the UK itself but was an “avid supporter” of Malala’s case (Grayson 594).

From an ethical perspective, the blogpost “Brand Malala” is an effective mean of illustrating the morals and values that today’s societies hold. Grayson claims that there are “double standards on how terrorism is reported” depending on whether it occurred in the West or the East (Grayson 593). She goes on to state that “all violence must be condemned”; regardless of location, victims, and especially gender (Grayson 594). Grayson in this text is not claiming that the public should dismiss Malala and what she advocates for, on the contrary, she mentions that “as an intelligent young role model”, Malala’s voice has reached places and will continue to do so as she “[knuckles] down” doors of gender injustice and specifically those for education (Grayson 598).

The final perspective this text upholds is the logical perspective, Grayson utilises several examples to back up her claims around this text, whilst using sufficient quotations from reliable sources to appeal to her readers’ logos. Artist Jonathon Rao shares his similar opinion about Malala being a “pawn in a bigger game” and was being unrightfully taken advantage of (Grayson 595). Referring back to Gordon Brown, who ignored a dying man’s request to solve the everlasting issue of gender justice, it is clear that society picks certain parts of issues that aid their personal political agendas and stray from the whole truth (Grayson 595).

Works Cited:

Grayson, Carol Anne. ""Brand Malala": Western Exploitation of a Schoolgirl." Blog post. N.p., 9 Oct. 2013. Web. 26 Sept. 2015.