Malala Yousafzai shares funny ‘Barbie’-inspired photo with husband
Malala Yousafzai is a Barbie Girl in the real world.
It may not sound like a quality connected with the 26-year-old activist and Nobel Peace Prize winner. However, the proof is in a post of a photo showing her and her husband, Asser Malik, in a movie theater’s promotional “Barbie Box” this past weekend.
Yousafzai shared a picture on her social media channels that echoed the movie’s cast announcements, which were set on a Barbie-packaging backdrop and included marketing blurbs (“This Barbie is a mermaid,” “This Barbie has a Nobel Prize in physics” or “He’s just Ken”) for each character. Yousafzai and Malik look relaxed and happy in their photo. But it’s the caption that makes this post social media perfection.
“This Barbie has a Nobel Prize ๐ Heโs just Ken,” she wrote.
This Barbie has a Nobel Prize ๐ Heโs just Ken pic.twitter.com/Ljbqdfpgfd
— Malala Yousafzai (@Malala) July 30, 2023
MORE: ‘Barbie’ is hitting the big screen, but is the movie meant for kids?
And how does this Barbie’s “Ken” feel about his new title?
Malik countered with a comment that will be familiar to anyone who has seen the movie โ specifically Ken’s “I am Kenough” sweatshirt in the closing scenes.
Iโm Kenough ๐
— Asser Malik (@MalikAsser) July 30, 2023
“I’m Kenough,” he replied, clearly in on his wife’s joke.
The Twitter post has nearly 42 million views and is closing in on 1 million likes as of July 31.
In a longer post on her Instagram account, Yousafzai shared the couple’s reaction to the movie and explained that her joke was not meant as a jab against her beloved husband.
“We loved the movie. It was so funny and thoughtful ๐,” she wrote in her Instagram post. “I hope this caption doesnโt hurt all the Kens as much as the movie Ken.”
These viral social media posts are the latest images of the evolution of Malala Yousafzai since the world first got to know her in 2012 at age 15, when she was attacked on a school bus in her homeland of Pakistan for speaking out in favor of education rights for all people.
Following her attack, her family moved to England, where the young girl continued to advocate for gender equality in education. In 2013, she wrote “I Am Malala,” a best-selling book which, along with other writings and outreach, helped the teenager to become the youngest Nobel Peace Prize winner in 2014.
Since that time, Yousafzai launched the Malala Fund, graduated from Oxford University and continues to advocate for accessible education for everyone.