Afghan Women Summary

In the cities most women wear a burqa that completely covers them. The fact that girls live with their husband’s extended family often results in them being treated like servants or slaves, compounding their isolation.

Women are discriminated against because since religion is connected deeply to culture, it is only “normal” for them to be circumscribed for their own good. Rasheed finds modern Afghanistan women and their behaviors such as not wearing

Afghan women seem to have better fortune in America than in Afghanistan. Before Amir and Baba moved to America the only women that were mentioned were not around anymore making it seem like they were not important in the first place. Once Amir and Baba were living in America there were female characters brought in to show that they were able to live their lives better than in Afghanistan. The women were better off in America even before the Taliban took over Afghanistan because they were no longer talked about as disappointments. The lack of women in the novel shows how the men thought of the women as if they were not as capable of doing the things they were able to. Baba was a business leader who did things that were unspeakable in Afghanistan

Due to being from a female author’s perspective, much of the book focuses on the life of women within an Iraqi village in the 1950s, so I chose gender and its impact on daily life as the topic of my paper. Gender, especially in the 1950s, plays a big role in determining someone’s “place” within a society, and Iraq is certainly no different. Elizabeth Warnock Fernea’s experience, and resulting portrayal, of life in Iraq was heavily influenced by the limitations and expectations placed on her as a woman. She was given some leeway as the wife of an ethnographer, and wasn’t expected to have fully integrated into her role right away, but was still very much expected to abide by the social and legal rules placed on Iraqi women.

Years leading to the Soviet invasion and during the Soviet rule in Afghanistan many women started to unveil. The extreme form of veiling was slowly decreasing among Afghans living in the urban cities. Nelofer Pazera in her memoir writes that one of the effects of secularization was unveiling of women, since veil was considered as a sign of backwardness. “A Quit Revolution” by Leila Ahmad examines the role of hijab resurgence both in Middle East and America. Ahmed’s book provides much more than a history of hijab resurgence; it provides a scope of politics and women’s personal agency. Ahmed argues that the British colonial presence in Egypt was a primary reason for unveiling movement. British presence created a conflict between those who welcomed

In the case of Afghani women’s memoirs and life stories offer new understanding of life under repression and how Afghani women struggled to keep their autonomy despite the oppression they faced. “Zoya’s Story”, “My Forbidden Face”, and “A Bed of Red Flowers” are memoirs written by Afghani women who experienced life under the Soviet Union and the Taliban in Afghanistan. These memoires along with interviews with Afghan women provided a complete picture that Afghani women are not as passive as they are portrayed in the history and book in the media. Women resisted in different shape and form, some engages in violent resistance, while others engaged in non-violent form of opposition. For instance, Zoya joined RAWA and participated in non-violent

Around the world the hijab, niqab, burqa, and other veils Muslim women wear are being criticized and made into news stories and or debates about whether Muslim women should be allowed to veil. Muslim Women are taking a stand against Western critiques of veiling by breaking down the critiques positioned by the West and Western feminists; in addition Muslim women are expressing autonomy and their self-determination for their right to choose to veil which leads to critiquing power of the state. (Ferrero)This essay will first outline the critiques of veiling and their historical context, then move to discuss how specific Muslim women see their lives and express their self-determination and finally the essay will conclude will an overall view of how Muslim women are critiquing the power of the state in order to control decisions regarding their

For example Abu-Lughod mentions in her research about a humanitarian reception’s invitation which read, “When the Taliban came to power in 1996, Afghan Women became faceless,” (784 ) the explanation concludes that Afghan Women were damsels in distress and needed people to save them from hiding. It also brings the notion that because Muslim women are not dressed freely like Western women, they are of lower standards. Abu-Lughod points out that the veil is socially historical. Women cover themselves as a sign of modesty and respectability in the company of society, not because of the Taliban’s control or for religious purposes. When binaries are created through culture assumptions, human unity begins to crumble and segregate into isolated spheres. Abu-Lughod’s point is for people to be aware of differences around the world, and to respect different ethics and

A myriad of simple pleasures living life in the United States for women include voting, wearing what you choose or working wherever you want. Many women take this for granted. In places all over the world, women are subordinate to men politically and socially. These women cannot enjoy the simple pleasures of life because of the society they are living in, especially women living in Afghanistan. Under the rule of the Taliban women had next to no rights because of the high honor held by men in their society. After the removal of the Taliban by the Northern Alliance in Kabul in 2001, conditions for women have improved, but inequality still exists due to a continued patriarchal society.

Having always been interested in the history of women’s rights, the oppressive rule of the Taliban on Afghan women has always been an interesting topic to research. Prior to Taliban control of Afghanistan, women enjoyed living the freedom that they were granted. They were very crucial to the development of the Afghan society, but when the Taliban gained control of Afghanistan in 1996, the rights of Afghan women began to dwindle. Although they negatively affected Afghanistan, for instance, politically, economically, and socially, the major negative impact their rule had on socially specifically was the Afghan women’s rights.. Even though the Taliban claimed “that it was acting in the best interests of the women,” according to a report on the

As countless Afghani’s were forced into the refugee lifestyle, women’s roles were diminished and the concept of veiling and the burqa made a gradual return, both as a means of protection and to lessen their roles (Noelle-Karimi).

Researching the Women in Afghanistan has informed me about the many different aspects that have shaped these women into who they are today. They have survived through incredibly harsh periods when education for women was illegal and when being out in public without a male accompaniment was a punishable act as well. Not only have the women of Afghanistan survived through these terrible times, but they never seemed to give up home schooling girls in their homes and searching for a way to better their lives. They stood up for the rights they knew they should have, even when they were brutally murdered in front of their families for doing so. The women of Afghanistan have been crying for help throughout the years. As a result, women from

Women in the far reaches of Afghanistan have been in need of justice for many years. Subjected to a forced reality with no choice in the matter, these women live through segregation, persecution, and inequality. Within the Catholic Social Teaching, all persons are born with unalienable rights as children of God, created in his image and likeness. However, in Afghanistan the treatment these women endure not only stems from a radical religious law, but is also a side effect of the country’s established culture that has not evolved. In the article, "These Five Women Are Risking Their Lives To Make Afghanistan A Better Place For Women", Beenish Ahmed, examines the death of a woman, Farkhanda. In an effort to protect her own belief as a practitioner of the Islamic faith, and completing her own religious studies, Farkhanda, spoke out against men who were selling amulets. Farkhanda felt these men preyed on people’s hopes, and was attacked and beaten to death when she spoke her mind. (Beenish, These Five Women.) The loss of this woman's life helped sparked a fight and calling against injustice suffered by women, with

The Taliban became responsible for punishing those who committed crimes by killing the criminals. These acts started a small fear in the Afghanistan people. Soon, the Taliban group became a well armed and well funded militia with the support of a province in Pakistan. As soon as fear stirred among the Afghani people, the president of Afghanistan, Burhanuddin Rabbani, tried to create an alliance against the Taliban in Kabul, the capitol. This alliance fell through, and the president eventually fled Afghanistan. In December of 1995, the Taliban took hold of Afghanistan as a result.

The article, Women’s Day, Afghan Style: Head Scarves and Flowers, asserts that although there is an International Women’s Day celebration every year in Afghanistan that lasts almost a month, women are still not being treated equally as men. Although “Afghanistan has one of the world’s highest maternal mortality rates” and is ranked very low in the gender equality index, they have several parties and ceremonies where women are awarded for their accomplishments (Nadar). In one of the ceremonies, the author of this article, Zahra Nadar, was invited for her journalism. The award show “was a little disappointing” with “the organizers [handing] out red flowers and headscarves” which plenty of Afghan women already had enough of (Nadar). Many people