Wearing a headscarf does not mean we're ‘voiceless or oppressed’: Malala

Pakistani activist for female education and Nobel Peace Prize winner Malala Yousafzai, who recently became the face of Vogue July 2021 edition, has opened up about ambitions, her future, and her family.

An Oxford graduate, who fought for girls’ education for more than a decade, shared there is one question that she ask herself every night where she sees herself in 10 years’ time, said Malala Yousafzai by adding, “Lying awake in bed for hours thinking, ‘What am I going to do next?’”

The 23-year-old continued, “Where do I live next? Should I continue to live in the UK, or should I move to Pakistan, or another country? The second question is, who should I be living with? Should I live on my own? Should I live with my parents? I’m currently with my parents, and my parents love me, and Asian parents especially, they want their kids to be with them forever.”

The youngest Nobel Peace Prize winner talks about covering her head with a scarf more often when she is outdoor. “I wear it more when I’m outside and in public,” she revealed.

The headscarf, she explained, is about more than her Muslim faith. “It’s a cultural symbol for us Pashtuns, so it represents where I come from. And Muslim girls or Pashtun girls or Pakistani girls, when we follow our traditional dress, we are considered to be oppressed, or voiceless, or living under patriarchy. I want to tell everyone that you can have your own voice within your culture, and you can have equality in your culture,” claimed Malala.