Religion, culture, and the politics of gender: a feminist study of Malala’s struggle for girls’ education in Swat

This article problematizes the intertwining of Islamic traditions and cultural norms in the Swat Valley of Pakistan, examining how an intricate analogy of religious practices, Taliban-imposed Sharia law, and tribal patriarchy marginalizes women’s access to education as portrayed in Malala Yousafzai’s memoir I Am Malala. It argues that cultural politics in Swat infringe women’s right to education and overlook Islam’s potential for gender equality. The study challenges essentialist views of gender by presenting it as a dynamic societal construct and further arguing that women in the Swat Valley suffer oppression and trauma due to the Taliban’s politicizing of Islam and patriarchal ideologies masked under the notion of Islamisation. Through a transnational feminist lens, the study highlights how Islam supports women’s education without any gender discrimination. The article concludes that women’s mired access to education in Swat is a result of cultural politics, the Taliban’s religiopolitical discourse, and its distorted alignment with Islamic traditions.