The 20-year-old Nobel Peace prize winner has been criticized by online trolls for wearing a pair of skinny jeans, heeled boots and a bomber jacket when she started studying at Oxford University.
- Oct 18, 2017
AceShowbiz - Nobel Peace prize winner Malala Yousafzai started her weeks at Oxford University in a pair of skinny jeans, heeled boots and a bomber jacket, and she's been criticized by online trolls for it. After a picture of her swapping her shalwar kameeze for the casual outfit surfaced, many bashed her and went as far as branding her "hypocrite."
The unverified photo made its way out online via the Facebook page of Pakistani forum Siasat.pk over the weekend. Although the young Pakistani student kept her duppata on her head as she's done since she arrived in Britain five years ago, people were not pleased with her new look, with some newspaper in her home country even comparing her dress change to an earthquake.
One scathing message posted on Twitter and re-published in the Pakistani media read, "That was the reason the bullet directly targeted her head long time ago," referring to the 2012 incident when Malala narrowly avoided death after being shot by the Pakistani Taliban for her outspoken campaigning over girls' rights to education.
Another hateful message read, "Look at hypocrite Malala wearing pants! Is she even a Muslim?" One other sarcastically commented, "Want a nobel prize and getting admission into Oxford University? Step 1: get shot... so much for women rights advocacy lol." Some others even compared Malala to porn star Mia Khalifa as one said, "Next Mia Khalifa."
"She is the player of American game . I feel very embarrassed to say that she is Pakistani," another commented, while one other critic wrote, "It's not particularly important for men but WOMEN SHOULDN'T wear those tight jeans because they get exposed."
Not all people criticized Malala for her Western outfit, though, as one came to her defense, saying, "Malala wears basic Western attire & moral police come out," before telling critics to "let a girl breatheee. How many tell a guy to stick to cultural wear? Btw its Fall."
"More people lost their minds over Malala wearing jeans than when she got shot. Our priorities demonstrate why we are our own worst enemy," another said. One other fan said, "What Malala wore in UK, is pretty common in Pakistan as well. Stop creating a fuss about it. Let others live their life, at least for once."
BBC presenter Anita Anand, who presents Radio 4's "Any Answers?", told DailyMail, "Malala can wear whatever she likes as far as I'm concerned. The baying criticism is coming from the most regressive quarters, and I doubt she could do anything to please them."
"I sincerely hope she never tries. All of my Pakistani friends agree with that sentiment," she added. "She is a heroine and a role model. Her insistence on an education has taken her to one of the finest learning establishments in the world. She refused to be deterred even though extremists tried to shoot her into line."
Malala was accepted at the prestigious university in August and has been studying a BA degree in Philosophy, Politics and Economics at Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford, which was also attended by former Pakistan Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto who was murdered by terrorists during an election rally in Rawalpindi in 2007.
