"Brand Malala response"

Hikmat Nassour

Dr.Dania Adra

Eng 203

27 September 2016

         In the text "Brand Malala": Western Exploitation of a schoolgirl, the writer Carol Anne Grayson talks about the case of Malala Yousafzia who became a very remarkable western commodity after she was shot by the Taliban in Pakistan. She discusses this case from different perspectives, one of which is the social perspective. The writer focuses on the issue of gender inequality  “Exploitation of women whether emotionally, physically, financially is so ingrained in our society” (Grayson 594) and how the british exploit Malala to overshadow gender injustice in their own country. The case of Malala raised several questions such as; "why not fly out every child harmed by US drones to the west for the most up-to-date medical care " (Grayson 593). 

       Second, in accordance with the emotional perspective, Grayson made it clear that she was mad, "All violence must be condemned." She is frustrated about how Malala was treated and how she received help and was treated with privilege by the UK while other other women with probably more severe cases were neglected and didn't receive any assistance."I have met many juvenile survivors of torture, outspoken activists on human rights so what makes one person more deserving than another?"( Grayson 595). In addition to that she is disappointed that the BBC mentioned Malala's new place and how that puts her life in danger. Furthermore,the writer displays sarcasm in the text when she says : " I wonder, how many people can name the other girls injured when Malala was shot?" (Grayson 596) although she fully supports Malala.

      Third, on the rhetorical perspective, Grayson's blog is argumentative which she discuses impersonally explaining Malala's issue and how she was exploited by the British government. She uses long sentences with a little bit of parallelism “ Malala the book, Malala the film , Malala the award nominee, Malala the portrait” (Grayson 596). Her language in the text is formal, clear and easy to understand. It also addresses all kinds of readers. She asks rhetorical questions to support her view, i.e. (as mentioned earlier) "...how many people can name the other girls injured when Malala was shot?" The writer also uses metaphors such as, "brand Malala". 

      As for the logical perspective, Grayson backs up her claim by giving a clear example of Gordon Brown -who has a reputation of a sexist as stated, "He is a known misogynist" (Grayson (594-) who displays himself as a supporter of Malala, proving Grayson's argument that Malala's case was used as a political tool/propaganda. The text seems to be inductive, as the writer draws conclusions from evidences such as that Malala is managed by a PR company, which is why Grayson assumes that she is being used as a tool. 

       Last but not least, the writer ethically appeals to her readers by implying how wrong  it is to exploit the tragedies of others, and to ignore/prioritize tragedies according to how much they serve the exploiter's interests. Grayson draws parallels between  injustices including drone strikes by those who seem to "care" about Malala and "condemn" the shootings, she states that, "All violence must be condemned," (Grayson 594)- implying that hypocrisy and double standards should not be tolerated. 

Work Cited

Grayson, Carol Anne. ""Brand Malala": Western Exploitation of a Schoolgirl." Shifting Narratives: A Reader for Academic Writing. 1st Ed. Sinno, Z. S., Bioghlu-Karkanawi, L., Fleszar, D., Jarkas, N., Moughabghab, E., Nish, J. M., . . . Ward, A. Beirut: Educart, 2015. 593-598. Print.