In the summer of 1994 an Afghan man kidnapped and raped several young girls, people in the area were outraged but didn’t know what they could do. They turned to a man named Mohammed Omar who then called on his religious students and together they executed this man. Word spread of the event and the students were called to help other people with their experiences of injustice.(Tanner279) These men later became known as the Taliban, the men that massacred many, violated human rights, and turned Afghanistan into a place of war, hate, and discrimination. The Taliban’s controversial way of treating women has haunted nations and although the Taliban was overthrown in 2001 their influence concerning women seems to still live on. So to what extent has the Taliban’s rule in Afghanistan affected the lives, laws, and treatment of women? To find the answer I will research who the Taliban is, how they came to power, what they believe in when it comes to women, and what the future holds for the women of Afghanistan.…
To begin, according to Shyamala, “Femininity is characterized by tolerance, delicacy, submission, emotion and softness” (169), a truth that is presented especially within the novel. Though this is true, the most evident traditional view present is that “Women are assigned only support roles such as a nurse, mother or wife” (Sarma 45). These roles are directly related to delicacy and softness that women are described as being which they sometimes relate to weakness. The novel presents a visual of women being in the support role to their husbands as in many instances, such as when a young Amir mentions that “The women were cooking”(Hosseini 90), and that the “wives and daughters served dinner” (Hosseini 90). While the men are sitting down, and such, the women are doing the chores of cooking and preparing dinner reinforcing their position in supporting roles. The men are the ones who dominate in this case. Additionally, as suggested by Shyamala, the traditional “Reflects Afghan culture where women need to be pure for men” (171). They must be pure so that they can find a husband, just as Amir claims, “Every woman needed a husband” (Hosseini 187). However, in Soraya’s case, she has no suitors until Amir arrives, and he is not accustomed to the…
Women are controlled by the government and are seen as nothing more than property to their husbands. If a woman left their home without being accompanied by a man, they “would be beaten and sent home.”(248, Hosseini) Afghanistan women are expected to be obedient, causing them to be sorrowful and oppressed. At the same time, men have the chance for a future. The two characters, Laila and Mariam, are controlled by their husband Rasheed who does not allow them to be uncovered on the street. When Mariam had been on a stroll with her husband during the beginning of the novel, she admired the modern Afghan women who were uncovered and even walking alone. “They made her aware of her own lowliness, her plain looks, her lack of aspirations, her ignorance of so many things.” (75, Hosseini) This quote exemplifies how Mariam feels being treated as property is not the dreams she had as a little girl, she has no chance now for her ambitions of being happy in time. The reality of her life is saddening; she is abused in many ways, for example, “Rasheed spat at Mariam. He swung the belt, testing it against his own thigh. The buckle jingled loudly.”(309, Hosseini) This control that Rasheed feels he has over Mariam is threatening to her safety, it shows that husbands can do whatever they please and no one pays attention. Mariam is not the only one who is weak to the power Rasheed…
All around the world today women are treated differently than men by the General Taheri. The right’s of women in Afghanistan has been limited. Women do not have any privileges at all! Not only do I notice and realize that that can’t get a job/education or can’t be seen in public, but these women are beaten and tortured for the little things. In the novel, The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini, the inequality of women’s rights is a significant theme because of their society, culture, and lack of freedom.…
In the novel, Mariam and Laila are restricted from doing certain actions that the Taliban’s feel are not appropriate by the stringent Islamic ways. Men in Afghanistan are not permitted to groom themselves the way they wish. However, men in America have no rules to abide to when it comes to looks. “All men will grow beards. The correct length is at least one clenched fist beneath the chin… All boys will wear turbans. All boys will wear Islamic clothes. Shirt collars will be buttoned” (Hosseini 277). Women in the same way have to obey the Islamic laws as men do. In fact, women have to abide additional rules than men. Men follow instructions involving appearances and entertainment but women follow instructions involving looks, jobs, responsibilities, speech, and where they’re allowed to go. “You will stay inside your homes at all times. If you go outside you must be accompanied by a male relative. Jewelry is forbidden. You will not speak unless spoken to. Girls are forbidden from attending schools. Women are forbidden from working” (278). The Americans though, have a different experience than the people of Afghanistan. Women and men have the freedom of speech. Women have just as many jobs opportunities as men and girls are not prohibited from receiving education as boys. Men and women are allowed to wear whatever makes them stand out and whatever they please. The American experience allows us to feel equal rather than arbitrated and…
In the supplemental text from the time magazine article we read a woman is beaten and abused by her husband and brother-in-law. She attempts to run away in efforts to save her life. We see, as we read this excerpt from the article, the common theme of cruelty and mistreatment of women under the Taliban:…
culture, including the lifestyle of the women in the Taliban. In this essay, the authors touch on…
Women’s rights in Afghanistan continue to follow an unpredictable path, which raises women’s hopes for a better life and more opportunities, and then bitterly extinguishes them. When the brutal Taliban fell, and their unfair rules and regulations came to a holt, a new beginning for women flourished through almost every crack and cranny of the country. “I remember the mounting enthusiasm for women’s rights...It was a bright and hopeful time. The issue of women’s rights was still fresh, not only in Kabul but throughout the country…”(Women’s Rights). The abolition of the Taliban sparked several flurries of hope for a new, better life. This fact grew even more evident when women were actually given the ability to participate in the government.…
The life of a women in Afghanistan and many other countries in the Middle East, is very traditional. It is almost frowned upon to be a women, which is wrong. Many women when they are born, are raised as boys. Their parents do this for them to have a better life. “In Afghanistan’s patriarchal society, economic dependency on men and social stigma put parents in a difficult spot.…
Women in Afghanistan are like servants; always abiding to their master. A Thousand Splendid Suns, written by Khaled Hosseini, takes place in Afghanistan during the war as the Taliban is taking over. Mariam and other women living in Afghanistan are continuously mistreated by men, both husbands and fathers, of the country. I believe women in Afghanistan deserve to be treated better by these men; they should not be taken advantage of, disrespected, and used.…
Additionally, this shows the Taliban’s thirst for power as they quenced the voices of the “weaker” sex by preventing them for being seen nor heard. Some of these rights include the “ right to work, the right to go to school, the right to show their skin in public” (“Women in Afghanistan”), etc. Despite these strict regulations, women in Afghanistan still remain strong to this day. Nothing will happen unless the women get their fair share of…
From 1996-2001 Afghanistan was under the rule of the Taliban, an islamic militant group. During the rule of the Taliban women were treated horrible, they were forced to cover themselves up from head to toe (even their eyes). Also the women who were teachers and nurses were forced to be beggars or even…
Women's Rights in Afghanistan have been an issue for many decades. After the Soviet occupied government diminished and the Taliban came into power, women's rights also diminished. Women in Afghanistan are looked at as nothing but homemakers and a means of reproduction. The horrific beatings of women have become a very common thing within Afghanistan and the Taliban. Even after the Taliban was removed Women's rights became insignificant. The women of Afghanistan have had to endure decades of torture, while new governments are being put in with the same type of Taliban-like laws.…
Prior to becoming based solely on Islamic principle, Afghanistan enjoyed a period of a calm, prosperous, and optimistic society. For women, life involved a lot more freedom than they possess presently. For example, women had fundamental rights and were large contributors to their society. They had the right to vote and even had equality with their male different in the 1960s. Further, women dominated the work force; many became doctors and teachers while others chose to work within the government.…
The Western world has a widespread flawed perception about what women's rights in Afghanistan have always been like. Before the conflict in the 1970s began, the future looked bright for Afghan women. They were given the right to vote in 1919, gender separation was abolished in the 1950s, and a new constitution promised more equality for women in the 1960s. Contrary to photographs the Western world sees of Afghan women dressed in burqas from head-to-toe, Horia Mosadiq, who was just a young girl when the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan in 1979, recalls a very different life for women, "As a girl, I remember my mother wearing miniskirts and taking us to the cinema." Noticeably, times have changed and those days are distant from the reality…