It is 2014. Shame on the Taliban!

Women are still struggling for the right to an education

in countries like Pakistan. Society set a norm on women: they are born inferior to men. The
thought of an educated woman is so radical and a threat! Women are scolded or called wicked
because they dare to read a book. Women such as Mary Wollstonecraft, Elizabeth Cady Stanton,
and Malala Yousafzai are all diverse women, born in different eras. Yet, they all agree on a
common ideology: Women have the God-given right to an education! An education leads to
freedom and equality. In Pakistan, the Taliban banned girls from attending school. Today, women
continue to fight and die for the right to be educated.
During the 1700's, Mary Wollstonecraft was a strong advocate of education for
women. But as a young girl she received little formal schooling. She and her two sisters taught
themselves by studying books at home. With her sisters, she briefly ran a school. These
experiences shaped much of her thoughts about education. She disagreed with Jean Jacques
Rousseau who believed that women's education should be secondary to men's. She believed that
education was the key to gaining freedom and equality. Although she died at the age of thirtyeight, ten days after giving birth to her second daughter, Mary Wollstonecraft's advocacy for
women's equality became increasingly important with the emergence of the feminist movement
of the 19th century.
Although Mary Wollstonecraft was the first to advocate for women's education and
equality, Elizabeth Cady Stanton was the first leading figure of the women's rights movement.
She was one the very few and fortunate of her time who received a formal education as a child.
She attended Johnstown Academy until she was 16 years old where she was able to challenge
and surpass all of her male classmates intellectually and academically, but when she graduated at
the top of her class, she was denied entry to Union College just because she was a woman. This
was her first taste of sexual discrimination. She ended up attending the Troy Female Seminary in
New York. In one of her most famous speeches: The Declaration of Sentiments, she wrote "He
has denied her the facilities for obtaining a thorough education - all colleges being closed against
her." An education was one of the most important rights, that men deprived women. Education
was and is still the key to equality and freedom today.
This same radical idea is shared by Malala Yousafzi. When Malala was 11 years
old,Taliban militants were taking over Swat Valley, banning television, music and most
importantly girl's education. In early 2009, the Taliban in Pakistan began to destroy and close
many all-girls schools in her town of Mingora in the Swat District. Parents did not let their girls
go to school for fear of being killed and endangering their families. She began speaking about
education at her local press club where she said "How dare the Taliban take away my basic right
to education?" When the schools were finally opened again, Malala and many others thought the
turmoil was over, but three years later after boarding a bus to go home from school, Malala was
shot at close range by a Taliban gunman. She became a target because of her belief: all women
deserve the right to an education.
Women's education is a radical idea from the past that is still relevant today. As long as
women remain uneducated, they will continue to suffer in silence, remain inactive in politics and
will be viewed as subhuman. It is our duty to not only continue what Mary Wollstonecraft,

Elizabeth Cady Stanton, and Malala Yousafzai fought bravely for, but to take action and petition
for women's right to an education all over the world. Let's begin with the Taliban in Pakistan!