of course we’ve all heard the story of mukhtar mai, the pakistani woman who was gang-raped at the order of a tribal council of elders “to restore her family’s honor”. but her continuing unfolding story is so moving to me. this article reveals unexpected contrast after unexpected contrast.

mukhtar mai is a quiet and shy woman, yet stood against an entire system

mukhtar mai is a quiet and shy woman, yet has become “the rosa parks of pakistani women”

she is receiving “woman of the year” from glamour magazine, which she’d, of course, never heard of

she’s receiving “woman of the year” from a magazine that, in pretty much every article and photo-spread, lauds a completely different standard of what a woman should be

she’s getting $20K for this award (which, frankly, seems like a joke, in terms of what glamour magazine could give for their “woman of the year”), and is using every penny of it to help others

brooke shields introduced her! (talk about contrast)

laura bush said she proves that one woman can change the world (laura’s certainly seen how this can be true of one man!)

what i could not escape while reading this article:

the poor shall inherit the earth (there are lots of ways to be poor);

the least shall lead us;

the trod-upon understand things that us trodders don’t;

the quiet and shy voice, when speaking with conviction, is more compelling than the loud screamer or even the gifted youth speaker;

i wouldn’t give the whole $20K away, and i don’t need it like she does;

equivalency problem: mukhtar mai is to a glamour magazine gala award dinner as _______________ is to our churches.
a. jesus
b. the son of god
c. emmanuel
d. all of the above