By Yostina Yacob

 

Kylie Jenner and Malala Yousafzai have both recently turned 18.

Yousafzai and Jenner lead completely different lives. Yousafzai was shot in the head by the Taliban in 2012 after campaigning for girls’education while Jenner was born into fame and extravagance and has probably never endured any life-threatening events.

Yousafzai, a Nobel Peace Prize winner, celebrated her special day by inaugurating a girls’school in Lebanon while Jenner, a TV personality, opted to celebrate in a lavish party in Canada.

Your initial reaction may be of admiration towards Yosafzai or it may be of irritation towards Jenner. If it is the former then I support you but if it’s the latter then, surprise! You are being HYPOCRITICAL.

Why?

Yousafzai, who survived horrendous circumstances knew struggles that none of us can even begin to imagine; she lived in a country stricken by poverty, ignorance and inequality. Naturally, when she got the attention and the funding she deserved, she used it to try and make the world around her a better place. She’s obviously very passionate about the issues of inequality in education and used her fame to try to better these issues and improve them. An amazing young lady! Good for her.

Meanwhile, Jenner has led a comfortable, lavish lifestyle and naturally too, she’s not drawn or necessarily passionate about the same issues Yousafzai is passionate about. Instead, Kylie’s (obviously) more interested in fashion, make-up and business deals etc. So what? That does not make her the spawn of the devil.

I, myself, am not a huge Kardashian/Jenner fan but I think the comparisons between Yousafzai and Jenner are irrelevant and pretty pathetic. People need to give Jenner a break. Yousafzai is an amazing role model but why does Jenner have to live up to her standards just because they happen to be the same age? Why do people have to draw imaginary comparisons between those two?

Here’s some food for your thought:

What did you do when your turned 18? Or when you celebrated your birthday in general.

Did you open a school for girls? No.

Did you give motivational speeches about girls’ right for education? No.

Did you even give to charity? Probably not.

Are you obligated to devote your life to helping those with no voice and no access to education (or any other social issue)? No, (but chapaeu to you if you did). Does that make you a bad person? NO. Does that make you a bad role model for those who may or may not look up to you? NO.

Here’s another set of questions to consider:

Did you celebrate your birthday amongst your friends and family? Doubtless.

Did you throw a huge bash celebrating your birthday? Possibly.

Did you wish you had a huge celebration similar to Jenner’s? Probably, I certainly wish I could.

Then why do we feel the need to sit on our lazy-judgmental asses, hiding in the shadows of social media and judging other people who do the same thing we do?

Put yourself in each one of the girl’s shoes. What would you do? Be completely honest with yourself. If you lived Kylie’s luxurious lifestyle, with the all the wealth, fame and business opportunities, wouldn’t you pursue those opportunities just like she did?

On the other hand, if you grew up in harsh circumstances and finally got the opportunity to help others who have been through similar experiences, wouldn’t you? It’s only natural.

I can bet over every pound and penny I’ll ever earn in my entire lifetime that if Yousafzai had thrown a birthday bash similar to Jenners’, she would’ve received a ton of criticism because how can Yousafzai, a TEENAGER, who had just turned EIGHTEEN, DARE to celebrate her birthday? How horrific. I can also bet that if Jenner had chosen to celebrate her birthday in the way Yousafzai did, people would’ve called her a pretentious, attention-seeker who’s only doing it for the media’s rave. Hypocrisy at its finest.

Both girls are inspiring in their own, completely different ways.

While Kylie may not be ‘inspirational’ in the most stereotypical way, she is certainly a trend-setter and a fan-favourite. While you may not have noticed, many girls nowadays are dying to copy Kylie’s style. How many girls would kill to have her lips? The Kylie Jenner challenge is enough proof of that. How many people are imitating her fun hairstyles and funky hair colours? How many times have you come across makeup artists who have uploaded tutorials on YouTube to teach their audience how to look like Kylie Jenner? I can go on forever but you already know the rest.

Kylie is good at what she does best and so is Yousafzai. The girls are completely different but are equally awesome and powerful in their respective positions. They’re killing the game.

Odds are, the same people who are criticizing Kylie for not living up to Malala’s standards are the same people constantly pressing the like button on her Instagram pictures and subconsciously copying her beauty look. There’s no shame in admitting it!

I am not saying that Jenner should not use her wealth and status to help other people (although she did). All I’m saying is that she’s not obliged to do so; she’s free to do whatever she wants to do as long as she’s not harming anyone else. She didn’t commit a crime of any sort by celebrating her birthday just like any other teenager does or wishes they did. If you feel any differently then please go take a long relaxing shower to calm your hypocritical-butt down, get dressed, go out and give to charity yourself. I guarantee you that will be much more fruitful than wasting your time and energy on criticizing an 18-year old who doesn’t even know you exist.