When Belle refused to marry Gaston, he said “Belle, it’s about time you got your head out of those books and paid attention to more important things… like me! The whole town’s talking about it. It’s not right for a woman to read— soon she starts getting ideas… and thinking”  (Beauty and the Beast). Though Beauty and the Beast was set in the mid 1700’s; a time where a woman’s job was to start and take care of a family, many of these same ideas are still set in place today. In fact, in Afghanistan alone, eighty-five percent of women have no formal education and are illiterate while out of the fifteen percent left, only eighteen percent have some form of third level education (Life as an Afghan Woman). Only one in twenty girls attend school past the sixth grade while there are approximately three times more boys attending school than girls (Life as an Afghan Woman). Afghanistan is only one of numerous countries where women are put at a disadvantage over men. The Middle East, North Africa and India are all facing a similar problem; a lack of a woman’s voice. Why is this the case? Countries like these are male dominated and traditional which hinders a woman to reach her fullest potential. On discussing women’s education in India, Daljit Singh, a political science graduate from the University of Washington, states that “There are schools, but most girls do not attend, often because of religious reasons or cultural pressures” (Girl’s Education in India). The structure of society mixed with a perception of “how a woman should live her life” culminates into the lack of education and the lack of pursuit women across the world have. By looking at the patriarchal society and perceived religious traditions, we can see that a woman is stripped of the right to educate herself. This is important because when a woman is educated she can quite literally change the world. Women need the resources and encouragement to pursue the amount of education they want.

Daljit Singh proposes that “Education is a basic human right that should be exercised fully in all nations” (Girl’s Education in India). Though this statement should have a general acceptance, there is an extreme amount of data that renounce it. The Circle of Sisterhood, a nonprofit organization that focuses on bringing women out of poverty, released alarming information on women’s education. Sixty-five million girls are out of school globally (Circle of Sisterhood). There are thirty-two million fewer girls than boys in primary school and two-thirds of the seven hundred and ninety-two million illiterate adults are women (Circle of Sisterhood). In Nigeria, Pakistan, and Ethiopia alone, 9.9 million girls are not in school (Circle of Sisterhood). Why are girls not receiving an education? Elizabeth Fernea, the author of The Challenges for Middle Eastern Women in the 21st Century writes that “the answer, quite simply, is that the

stated ideology of men dominating women is being contested by social practice” (186). Women are not able to achieve education because of the power of men. Looking at governments, almost all countries with troubling statistics on women’s education are run by men. Laws that allow men to own the family’s property keep women’s education at a steadfast. A domino effect works when a husband owns his wife’s property, leaving her with no choice but to obey his rules. Another factor of this restrictive society is the idea that women are supposed to take care of the family and household. Only twenty percent of women in the Middle East and North African countries work in the labor force (Farzaneh). The men in these countries follow tradition when it comes to household dynamics which implies that a woman is only good for taking care of the family. This leaves no room for education. In countries like India, having a boy means fruitfulness and stability for the family. Common practices in other countries include arranged marriages done by the girl’s family and dowries that signify a woman’s worth (Singh). A woman is taught to be a housewife (Singh). Girls “provide free labor to the family” which means “they are kept at home because it is a better payoff than attending school” (Singh). The second reason women are not receiving education is because of religious views and practices. ISIS, an extremist group based on Islamic religion, released a Manifesto claiming that women should never “depart from their God-given roles as mothers and wives” (Abdul-Alim). The forty-one pages “extols the virtues of motherhood and promulgates the idea that the best place for a woman is in the house, living a life of "sedentariness" and fulfilling her "divine duty of motherhood.”’ (Abdul-Alim). ISIS is not the only religious group that argues these predetermined directions women should follow in life.

It is easy to see that a human’s education creates success for both themselves and people around them. John Reynolds and Catherine Ross wrote an article for the Oxford University Press about the benefits of education stating 

Education likely plays a pivotal role in well-being in part because the well-educated ar less likely to face unemployment, they have greater access to full-time, high status, rewarding well paid work, and they experience less economic.

Without education, there would be no governments, institutions, or revolutions. People would not challenge themselves and pursue higher careers, leading to great movements and accomplishments for human kind. Education is a foundation for a continually growing world. Reynolds and Ross hypothesize that “the direct effect of education on well-being is greater than the direct effect of social origins, and the total effect of social origins is mediated mostly by education.” simply meaning that education creates a better well-being than social origins. People live healthier lives because of education. It is also noted that there a positive effects from education for people from both high status and low status (Reynolds/Ross 226). Education does not discriminate. A person of a higher status benefits from education similar to a person of a lower status. Another fact about education is that it cannot be inherited. When a baby is born, it has equal knowledge as all of the other babies. Education is not prejudice or sexist. Education does not pick who gets to be educated. It is people in power who hold education from other people. Ironically, it is the educated people that are failing to enable education for these women in the Middle East, North Africa and India. 

After multiple research and experiments, Reynold and Ross concluded that “Women, people whose fathers held low status jobs, and people who are not employed full-time benefit more from education, not less” (241). Education is the key that will create better opportunities for the younger generations. Education works in multiple ways as well. When a woman is educated, she is not just learning how to spell or do math, but how to take care of herself and defend her rights. For example, if all girls had a secondary education, there would be two-thirds less child marriages and a literate mother has a fifty percent higher chance that her child will survive past the age of five (Circle of Sisterhood). These facts show that a woman;s education is not going to waste. When girls receives education she is able to stand up for herself and when a mother can read, her child succeeds more. A woman’s education creates an enormous domino effect that not only helps them as an individual, but their country, and eventually the world. It is important to note that the education women need is not college level but simply primary and secondary education; the basic levels for a human. With just primary education, ten percent fewer girls under the age of seventeen will become pregnant in Africa (Circle of Sisterhood). Secondary education, if given to only one percent more girls in India, will raise the GDP 5.5 billion dollars (Circle of Sisterhood). Education bares the gifts of social growth, economic value, and safety. When more women are educated, they are able to attain jobs which helps national income (Farzaneh). A educated woman is more likely to have a healthier child (Farzaneh). Most importantly, Farzaneh states “Educated women are more politically active and better informed about their legal rights and how to exercise them.” A woman’s education brings her a voice that empowers her, making her more likely to change the world. Countries and societies must take away the ideas of a woman and her role in the world in order to allow the woman to make decisions for herself. In a recent TEDTalk, Alaa Murabit, an educated young Muslim woman, explains the concept of having a voice when her mom’s favorite lamp broke, by saying “The most important lesson I learned growing up was the importance of being at the table. I had to be at the table to defend myself because if you’re not, then the finger is pointed at you.” Women need to be at the table in households and governments. Although Murabit’s story was about a lamp, her message still stands for a woman’s education. Women must be educated so that they can be at the table and defend themselves. Overall, the Circle of Sisterhood Foundation relays the need for education perfectly by stating 

Education empowers women to overcome discrimination. Girls and young women who are educated have greater awareness of their rights, and greater confidence and freedom to make decisions that affect their lives, improve their health, and boost their work prospects.

A major event that shed light on women’s education is the story of Malala Yousafzai that reached headlines across the world in 2012. Malala was raised in a home where both parents valued education and wanted the same for Malala. Taking after her father, Malala became an education activist in 2009. Malala spoke about her fear of the Taliban and how her school might be attacked (Malala’s Story). Becoming increasingly popular, the Taliban set out to kill her and on October 9th, 2012 she was shot by the Taliban on her way to school. Surviving the accident, Malala thrived and continues to make gains in the world of women’s education. One of Malala’s famous quotes is “One child, one teacher, one book, and one pen can change the world” (Malala’s Story). Malala Yousafzai is not only an inspiration to educators but women as she explains that when a woman is educated, the world benefits. Yousafzai went on to win the Nobel Piece Prize and funded multiple schools in Pakistan for women. Malala’s story is a paradigm to activists who see a woman’s potential in a male dominated world. By having the courage and knowledge that her father taught her, Malala, like many other brave women, were able to ignite a movement towards woman empowerment; starting with education. 

Overall, when women receive an education, the world would prosper. In the example of Malala Yousafzai, with the education she was able to have, she created a platform and made a statement to the entire world. However, the only way Malala was able to do this was because she had the resources and support to educate herself and become a role model to the world. Resources are not easily tractable for women and after startling data, many governments and societies lack the attention on a woman’s education. The first step in getting education to women in these countries is by changing the stereotype of womanhood. Even though the world is still much under a patriarchal rule, it does not mean that women should not have a voice. Elizabeth Fernea writes that “ It is not necessarily the election of women to public office, but the shifting and changing of a whole universe of long-honored assumptions about the male and his power that is important” (192). While a woman in office gives a more direct representation for women, the idea that a man sees a woman as his equal counterpart will still allow for changes in legislation towards giving women an education. This idea works from the bottom up because if a woman does not have an education, she is not able to take office. However, when men start acknowledging that women should be educated just as much as a man, women will be able to get an education, therefor giving them a greater chance at taking office. Fernea is hopeful as she proclaims this concept “is already beginning to take place in the Middle East, as practice erodes ideology and in many countries has overtaken it” (192). The next step is accessibility. Like Malala, many girls in countries in the Middle East are faced with the threat that their schools will be destroyed. The Population Reference Bureau explains that “schools are unable to provide safe and sanitary facilities for young girls to attend, and with the population increasing at a rapid speed the priority for new facilities is given to boys.” These girls and educators are risking their lives to provide education. This leads to a scarce amount of both physical materials and educators needed to reach every potential girl. More schools need to be built and more people need to be trained in order to provide to these young women. Safety needs to be ensured with the support of both men in power in society and in the household. With the encouragement of these men and safety in attending school, women will trust that their education is in good hands; leading them to a better future. By implementing these measures, young girls will not only be encouraged to pursue education, but always have the materials needed in doing so. In conclusion, no woman should be deprived of receiving an education. A woman’s education leads to better health, more job opportunities, and a more peaceful society. No woman should be left asking themselves if there’s anything more to “this provincial life” (Beauty and the Beast).
