Even Nobel winners like a night out at the cinema once in a while. Education activist and Nobel Peace Prize recipient Malala Yousafzai, known mononymously as Malala, joined millions of people around the world and watched Barbie in theaters this weekend—capturing the moment with her husband, Asser Malik, in hilarious fashion.
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Malala and her husband posed for a photo in a life-size plastic Barbie box. “This Barbie has a Nobel Prize,” Malala captioned the photo. “He’s just Ken.” Mic drop.
Malala, of course, is one of the only people on the planet who can say that and have it actually be true. She rose to international renown in 2012 at the age of 15, after a Taliban gunman shot her in the head while she was on the bus home from school, with the group accusing her of promoting “Western thinking” by advocating for girls to receive an education. She survived the attack and became a global phenomenon and vocal activist for women’s right to education, writing the book I Am Malala in 2013. The following year, she became the youngest person ever to receive the Nobel Peace Prize, at 17 years old, for her activism and for showing “children and young people, too, can contribute to improving their own situations.”
Malala has been married to Malik, currently general manager of high performance for the Pakistan Cricket Board, since 2021. While we don’t know whether or not they pulled a Barbenheimer doubleheader, the married couple definitely seemed to be channeling Barbenheimer with their outfits, as Malala wore pink and her husband donned a black blazer. In her funny caption, Malala expressed their joint admiration for Greta Gerwig’s Barbie. “We loved the movie, it was so funny and thoughtful,” she said. “I hope this caption doesn’t hurt all the Kens as much as the movie Ken.”
Malala’s Barbie-themed Instagram post has received over 710,000 likes and counting. While she playfully ribbed her husband in the post, it seems he also has a great sense of humor. He commented on Malala’s Instagram post, “I’m Kenough.” If Malik is “Kenough” for a woman as brilliant as Malala, then that’s all that matters.
