4th Amendment

ENG 170
28 October 2013
Feminism in Media
During the early times, women were underprivileged in their social, economic and political status. They were looked upon as men’s accessory and were always confined to the domestic domain. This situation gave birth to the idea of feminism. What is feminism? It is the belief in the importance of gender equality and the idea of having a right to be equal to a man. In this essay, we will examine three essays about feminism in media which discuss the rights of women and the equality of gender. Each essay has different perspectives on the issue of women`s right being equal to men. In this essay, we will compare the differences among the perspectives and determine which perspective is most effective.
The first essay that we will discuss is “Malala, the Muslim Feminist” by Rafia Zakaria. Zakaria is a columnist for DAWN, Pakistan 's largest English newspaper and one of the few feminist columnists in Pakistan. Zakaria`s perspective is to prove that gender equality in education is global and the demand for equality does not belong to any one culture or faith. The next essay that we will examine is “Angelina Jolie`s Life-Saving Decision Creates Harsh Critism” by Sandra Sanchez. Sandra is a political science and women `s studies student at the University of Mary Washington. She is also “The Individualist Feminist” where she brings the flavors of feminism. Her perspective in this essay was to prove the gender equality in health issues. The last article that we will examine is “Miley Circus` Contribution to Femism” by Christian Piatt. Piatt is an author, editor and speaker and spoken word artist who provided strong opinionated perspective that says “Rather than men in power resisting the progress of women being the greatest current barrier to parity, it now is the unpleasant reality that sexualizing young women works for innumerable purposes in our world” (Piatt).
The first article, “Malala, the Muslim Feminist” by Rafia Zakaria is about a girl whose name is Malala Yousafzai. She is a schoolgirl from Pakistani who has become a champion for girls` education among the world. The article, “Malala, the Muslim Feminist” showed Malala`s personal experience of how she got shot in the head from a Taliban gunmen just because she was against the social norm of attending a school. Because in her country it is not allowed for girls to go to a school after a certain age, Malala`s desire of continuing her education brought big risk in her life. However, in the article it says that her personal life story is more than just a tale of survival. The author, Rafia Zakaria claims that “In Malala`s frank prose is proof that feminism, or the desire for equality through education and empowerment, is not the terrain of any one culture or faith” (Zakaria). Because Zakaria is feminist columnist in Pakistan, she is able to stand on the controversy by providing real life examples from her country. The author also addresses her personal opinion where she says that the attack on Malala reminds us how difficult it is for women and girls around the world to assert their rights. It also compels us to ask ourselves: If a 14-year-old girl can risk her life standing up to the Taliban, what actions can we take here in the U.S. to advance the rights of girls? A 14-year-old girl advocated for her right and the right of all girls to attend school and to have a right to be equal to man. Zakaria`s essay about a Pakistani girl was proved the significance of controversy. She used strong factual standpoint to prove the equality in education is the global thing.
Sandra Sanches`s article “Angelina Jolie`s Life-Saving Decision Creates Harsh Criticism,” claims to prove the gender equality in health issues. The article is about Angelina Jolie who made her own decision to do a double mastectomy. Just the same as Malala who decided to attend a school, Angelina Jolie made her decision to have breast surgery in order to save her own life. The author, Sandra Sanchez, mentioned in her article that “She did so because she learned that she inherited a genetic mutation that could lead to breast cancer” (Sanchez). Unfortunately, her decision created harsh criticisms and people started to judge her that she will no longer be considered as a “sex symbol” because she won`t have breasts. Sandra Sanchez stated a strong argument against to it by mentioning specific example of Lance Armstrong. She says that Lance Armstrong, who had removed one of his testicles because of testicular cancer, did not get any criticism and nobody judged him. Therefore, it is not fair to judge a woman who had a double mastectomy and not judge a man for a similar thing. Because Sandra is a women`s studies student her idea of gender equality in health issues contributes to the significance of the controversy.
In continuation with the two articles, “Miley Circus` Contribution to Feminism” by Christian Piatt is also considered an article about women`s rights being equal to men`s. In the article it says that currently, a lot of people started to judge Miley Circus because of her highly sexualized performance and behavior. However, Robin Thicke, the married man, did not get any criticism in his video. Piatt who are strongly opinionated author and editor claims, “Suffice it to say that women historically have been held to different standards of sexual expression than men, and when in doubt, blame the woman. Not that her dance was appropriate, but it tells us more about ourselves when we obsess about the shenanigans of the young woman than the borderline adulterous displays of a much older man” (Piatt). Piatt not only clearly stated his claim, but also he provided strong and effective life stories of Miley Circus that strengthen his essay. His article contributes significance of controversy that shows his strongly opinionated perspective in field of feminism.
Overall, we examined multiple perspectives on the issue of feminism in media and each author provided different standpoints. Zakaria`s essay “Malala, the Muslim Feminst” the author used strong factual standpoint to prove the equality in education is the global thing. Her article about the Pakistani girl intrigued me a lot. Not only because she mentioned someone’s life story, but also she proved that the demand for equality does not belong to any one culture or faith. The second article “Angelina Jolie`s Life-Saving Decision Created Harsh Criticism” by Sandra Sanchez relies on strong argument against people`s criticism. The author Sandra used specific examples in her article that strengthens her essay and used her personal opinion on the matter that contributes to the significance of the controversy. The last article is “Miley Circus` Contribution to Feminism” by Christian Piatt. Piatt not only clearly stated his claim, but also he provided strong and effective personal opinion where he says, “So judge Miley if you must, but in doing so, realize that she is only a speck that is part of a much larger log in our collective cultural eye” (Piatt par.9) that strengthen his claim. From these three articles the first article about a Pakistani girl was the most informative essay that supports gender equality.

Work Cited

Piatt, Christian. “Miley Cyrus’ Contribution to Feminism.” The Huffington Post 6 Sept. 2013, HuffPost Entertainment. Web. 16 Oct. 2013.
Sanchez, Sandra. “Angelina Jolie`s Life-Saving Decision Creates Harsh Criticism.” Thoughts on Liberty 16 May 2013, Non Political. Web. 16 Oct. 2013.
Zakaria, Rafia. “Malala, the Muslim feminist.” Aljazeera America 14 Oct.2013, Culture, Pakistan, Women`s Rights. Web. 16.Oct. 2013.

Cited: Piatt, Christian. “Miley Cyrus’ Contribution to Feminism.” The Huffington Post 6 Sept. 2013, HuffPost Entertainment. Web. 16 Oct. 2013. Sanchez, Sandra. “Angelina Jolie`s Life-Saving Decision Creates Harsh Criticism.” Thoughts on Liberty 16 May 2013, Non Political. Web. 16 Oct. 2013. Zakaria, Rafia. “Malala, the Muslim feminist.” Aljazeera America 14 Oct.2013, Culture, Pakistan, Women`s Rights. Web. 16.Oct. 2013.