Kabul Beauty School: Essay

As soon at Taliban came in control in Kabul woman had no right to do anything.They weren't allowed to step out of their doors, they weren't allowed to work, woman/girls weren't allowed to go to school, ban on woman laughing.Those that didn't obey the laws were whipped in public, were beaten etc.The Taliban had stated that this was being done for their protection.An example of Taliban's violent treatment against the woman is; a woman wearing nail paint had her fingertips chopped by a Taliban officer. Taliban had just the say thing to say against this, “it was being done to safeguard

In Afghanistan, Women’s rights were very denied and completely dismissed. Women were treated horribly. They were beaten, abused verbally, and even killed. Under the rule of the Taliban, women were better off staying in the safety of their own homes.

The Taliban has some of the most frightening rules for Afghan people: A kite seller will be imprisoned for three days, the owner of a house will be punished if women are heard singing during a wedding, no images or photographs are to be posted in public places, there is to be no equipment that produces the joy of music, and even Christmas cards are to be banned. The list goes on and on with the harsh rules and punishment that face the people of Afghanistan. The Taliban claims that they are following the strict codes of Islam, but now it seems that the group is just dictating the country to whatever they seem suitable. The Taliban customs personal would gouge out the images of women's eyes on shampoo bottles, and merchants would have to sell the product with black tape over the women image or face a beating and time in jail. The group of men that run the Taliban regime amaze me on how everything is played out in Afghanistan. The men want a bid into the U.N. but can't even have a country where people aren't afraid to walk down the streets in fear of being stoned or shot to death.

Growing up and living in Afghanistan as a woman has its challenges. Parents choose who can marry you and they choose everything for you. In this book, Laila and Mariam both show the struggles it is to be a girl, and how much disrespect they get in Afghanistan. Both Mariam and Laila are married to the same man, and he is abusive to both of them. They also live under Taliban rule, and the rules that they set are very unfair for women. In Khaled Hosseni’s novel, he has many different themes but the most prevalent one is of woman inequality, and that is shown through multiple accounts of abuse, disrespect, and unfairness.

The Taliban’s rules are strict and focus on Islam. There are a lot of restrictions against women. The Taliban treat women harshly with their laws. The stated aim of the Taliban was to “create a

Born as the youngest in her family, Laila grows to become a loving and compassionate parent who is willing to sacrifice for her children; despite having a negligent and unloving mother. Laila, even before her first baby was born, made the decision to marry Rasheed and purposefully had sex with him in order for it to appear like it was his baby. This protects the baby, Aziza, from Afghani society who would shun her for being birthed out of wedlock, and it also keeps the true father’s identity, Tariq, a secret. This sacrifice is one of many, Laila knows, to come as she thinks “[she] already saw the sacrifices a mother had to make. Virtue was only the first. She put a hand on her belly. Closed her eyes”(219). Another sacrifice Laila had to make was putting Aziza in a local orphanage in Kabul, due to the fact that Rasheed was earning so little money that they no longer had the ability to keep her healthily fed. She lived and ate there as well as being taught in a classroom, but in order for Laila to visit Aziza, she sometimes “was caught, questioned, scolded--two, three, even four times in a single day”(321) by the Taliban in an especially inhumane fashion. Over the course of their marriage, Laila withstood Rasheed’s

Problems that the Taliban have caused, in real life, have impacted the way that many innocent people in various Arab countries used to live--long ago, life was delectable to many. People lived in a state of tranquility, and could live accompanied by one word: freedom. However, later on, and not long ago, the Taliban created a set of strict, over-the top rules that have not only completely

“I do not wish for women to have power over men, but over themselves” Mary Wollstonecraft. In the vast majority of places around the world, men have the upper hand over women, whether it is in the household, workplace, or government. Even in America, the land of the free, women are still discriminated against to a slight extent. A man and woman could have the exact same job, but the man would bring home a greater salary than the woman. In spite of the fact that this is unfair, at least women in America are permitted to work. Khaled Hosseini brings awareness to the women of Afghanistan who are victims of the inhumane and unjust laws of the Taliban. In his novel, A Thousand Splendid Suns, Hosseini uses agonizing scenes and imagery to analyze the ways Afghan women continue to subsist in an oppressive and discriminatory society from the 1950s to today.

A Thousand Splendid Suns, a book written by Khaled Hosseini, gives us a unique and informative glimpse into life in Afghanistan in the early 1960’s to the 2000’s. In it we can see many different political and social issues ravaging the country, with the most evident being gender inequality. Though many diverse groups of people were being discriminated against at the time, most of the subordination fell onto women as they had more and more rights taken away from them when various ruling powers took control. The author relays this information to us and educates us as to what happened through compelling and thought-provoking literary devices such as symbolic characters and objects, and allusions. By using these

Women are still being isolated today even though a new form of government is in use and has been fifteen years since the rule of the Taliban. “Life as an Afghan Woman” points out that “women are [still] often hidden and isolated. Islamic extremists insist that women and girls stay at home, and can only leave if they are fully covered and accompanied by a male relative.” Most women wear a burqa that completely covers their entire body, showing male dominance outside of the home as well. Women must cover themselves to avoid the possibility of men looking at them in an inappropriate way. Women have to dress in a head to toe burqa for the benefit of men. Also, the fact that girls live with their husband’s extended family often results in them being

Prior to the rise of the Taliban, life for women in Afghanistan was improving dramatically. In Laila’s father’s words, “Women have always had it hard in this country… But it’s true, it’s a good time to be a woman in Afghanistan” (Hosseini 121). Women were able to teach in universities and schools and even hold office in the government. However, once the Taliban came to power in 1996, women were stripped of their basic rights and practically ordered on house arrest.

The majority of the Taliban are uneducated countryside locals that know little of politics. Their values include protecting the honor of women, dressing modestly, and other conservative Muslim customs (Dorronsoro). To enforce their rules they would use methods such as public executions, beatings, and immediate murder. The Swallows of Kabul by Yasmina Khadra is a book about the city of Kabul under the rule of the Taliban. In the book one of the female characters are arrested and a Taliban leader is talking to the jailer about her. He says, “She’s going to stay here a bit longer than the others.” The jailer asks why and he responds, “Because of the big rally in the stadium next Friday. Some very high ranking guests will be in attendance. To provide this event with some atmosphere, the authorities have decided to carry out ten or twelve public executions. Your inmate is to be included in the lot. In the beginning the qazi wanted to have her shot right away. Then, since there was no woman on the program for Friday, they gave her a reprieve until then.” The Taliban had a strict set of rules and too much power, so they carried out executions like this to keep the public in order and drive them away from Western ideas. They viewed foreigners as a threat to what they stand for and wanted to keep them out of their

As odd as the restrictions women had, the punishments for violations were even more unbelievable. To humiliate the women, most of the punishments were available to be seen by the public. The penalties for broken laws were often held public in sports stadiums, town squares, or other densely populated areas for everyone to see. For a minor infraction, oftentimes the one who committed the transgression was often beaten until unconscious. A woman once had her thumb removed because her thumb nail was exposed, and when the Taliban guard saw this, she was taken into the town square to have her exposed thumb taken off. The things that the Taliban do to innocent citizens are cruel, and they should be the ones being reprimanded, not the other way around. In general, many of the punishments that the Taliban give out to women are, in most cases, much too excessive for such insignificant “crimes”. (Delcan Walsh)

The Taliban implemented laws restricting the movements and actions of women in Afghanistan in public places. While attempting to visit her child in a home for young girls, Laila is beaten within an inch of her life as a consequence of walking outside without a male escort (Hosseini). The extreme course of action, beating a woman for walking alone, demonstrates the illogical and unjustifiable actions the Taliban promotes the practice of in Afghanistan. The women and men have dramatically unequal rights.

An aspect that highlights the low statuses of women in Afghan culture, is portrayed in the soldiers rude description of Sanaubar, Hassan’s mother. The solider speaks with