It also doesn't change the reality that many Pakistanis are fighting that and working to change it. Nor does it change the reality that Pakistanis are a very diverse group of people and many men are supportive of women.

You do realize that Bhutto was a corrupt politician, right? And, my theory is that her husband had her killed to gain political power, which he did.

LOL!! I'm Punjabi so I've only ever heard Punjabi gaallian. I actually had not realized that was the Urdu word for ass (though yes, technically it's not a gaalli). You learn something new everyday, eh?

I hope not. Bhutto was a pretty corrupt politician. Her bank account was pretty full while the people suffered and she did very little for the women of Pakistan. Musharaf did way more for women in Pakistan than Bhutto even tried to do.

Thank you! I'm Pakistani as well and the unfortunate side effect of all this attention on Malala has been a total misrepresentation of Pakistan and Pakistanis. It's the same old and tired "evil, brown man" and "weak, helpless Muslim woman" trope.

I don't think they're unreliable for Middle Eastern news. I think they're much better than any American news network and way, way more accurate. They barely cover Qatar, that's true, but when it comes to the rest of the Middle East, I think they're one of the few that actually do a good job.

We (my husband and I) love Al-Jazeera. We're in Canada so we watch Al-Jazeera English. I'm often amazed at the stories they cover because they will cover stuff from ALL over the world - stuff that I would never have heard of had I relied on American or Canadian news. Their style is very professional - no pop music or…

This article sums up my feelings well.

She's not the only one. Women in Pakistan have had access to education since the inception of the country. The doctor who delivered my mother in the 50s in Pakistan was a woman. Many women in Pakistan are educated and have had support from Pakistani men to get that education. It's not that bad. The main obstacle to…

Malala is great and all, but when talking about Malala and the problems she, and others like her, face in northern Pakistan, how can we not talk about America and Britain's role in creating those problems? Had it not been for western nations like the US and Britain the Taliban would not have been a problem that Malala…

Fair enough. There must be something that she provides to her supporters, either in the form of her religious beliefs, or in other ways that are important enough to her supporters that they're willing to overlook her nonsense. Either way, I agree with you. It is mind-boggling!

What's scarier/more dangerous? Someone like Michelle Bachmann who tells everyone about her brand of religious craziness and openly airs her extreme beliefs for everyone to know? Or having a prime minister who has fundamentalist Christian beliefs but hides them while quietly pushing his religiously based agenda to…

Gang rape is part of Indian culture? Wow. You really don't get how patriarchy works, do you? I don't think it's worth my effort to explain it to you.

And yes, your statement remains racist AND incredibly ignorant.

It's racist if you call the culture "backwards." "Backwards" is colonial-speak for "inferior dark-skinned people."

"Again and again any attempt to discuss why these rapes happened or look at the institutional issues that lead to insufficient police response, a country full of people blaming the victim, or this woman's current situation in a male-biased economic structure are shouted down as racist, as I'm sure this comment will…

That's because it pretty much is. The story is not true.

Turns out that, surprise, surprise, this story is not true. Just some BS orientalist journalism.

Those are beautiful names, but at times like this I'm glad that I have a couple of pools of names to choose from (South Asian, Persian, and Arabic) when Mr. Apple and I have kids.

I tend to agree. I don't see this as the three of them trying to be disrespectful. I think it was poking fun at the Miley Cyrus situation. But, as we all know, nothing occurs in a vacuum, and the larger conversation regarding twerking is racist. And they may have contributed to perpetuating a very problematic…

Um...it kinda does...