A typical day starts with sleeping past your alarm, grabbing food in the Caf, and attending class half-asleep, but this is not the typical day for women our age in Afghanistan, Papua New Guinea, Brooklyn, Sydney, and Cameroon.  They wake up to the sounds of crying, growling stomachs, and a society that expects them to fulfill their maternal roles as mothers, wives, and subordinates. They aren’t expected to indulge in education, self-fulfillment, or fight back against their projected roles.

I am a Girl is a documentary about the social injustices that girls around the world face. Children, as young as twelve years old, are being betrothed to adult men, experiencing birth, and denied post-secondary schooling. But they fight back against these injustices to stake their claim in the world as humans. This 2013 documentary opens doors that we, as Gusties, may never open but need to look into.

There are only be six girls in the film but there are millions more behind the scenes suffering the same fate.

It’s important to think about these issues because the people suffering these injustices are human. We have to let go of our prejudices and realize that underneath they’re just like us.

One of the girls from the documentary, Aziza from Afghanistan, lost her father because of the Taliban. Now she is threatened with gunfire if she decides to go to university. We’re aware of the bigger issue surrounding Aziza and that is because of the Taliban. The “smaller” issue that we’re unaware of is Aziza’s desire for education. The fight for education is not just in Afghanistan. Educated girls outside of the United States, are less likely to be child brides, earn 20% increase in income, increased infant survival rate, and are more likely to send their children to school (ABC News Top 10 Facts you don’t know about Girls’ Education).

One woman fighting to bring awareness to the gender education battle is Malala Yousafzai. Malala stands on all social margins as a young female Pakistanian adult. She has survived numerous assassination attempts and continues to advocate for female education. The imminent threat of death doesn’t deter one individual to talk about these issues so why don’t we talk about them?

One reason might be the “importance” of other issues in the United States; immigration, war, the economy, the Kardashians next Instagram post. The United States emit this energy that we’re immune to various issues. The United States isn’t eradicated of any issue, we’re a melting pot of issues.

I am a Girl challenges the boundaries that society has put up to protect us from touchy issues. The girls inside the documentary fight their predisposed role along with other individuals like Malala Yousafzai.

Gusties, along with the rest of the world, need to take the first step of acknowledging their struggles and working together to solve these problems. Women across the world going through these situations are humans along with the rest of us and deserve to be treated as such.