Gender Inequality In The Kite Runner

In The Kite Runner, gender definitely plays an immense role within the society of Afghanistan. There are clearly stereotypes set for the men and as well as the women. The women are expected to have the children and take care of them while the man works. It is seen as a problem largely across the book. Women are being taken advantage of by the men. The women have standards to fulfill and if they go in a different direction then they are intended to, they are surely the topic of discussion. Khaled Hosseini characterizes men as restrictively dominant while also highlighting the inequality of the genders in Afghanistan.

It is first noticed when Baba sees Amir crying while they are in the car.. Amir says, “I cried all the way home. I remembered how

I will never forget Baba’s valiant efforts to conceal the disgusted look as he drove in silence” (Hossoni 21). Baba believes that men, specifically his son, are not suppose to cry. Men are looked at as dominant and superior to women throughout Afghanistan. So when men cry, it makes them appear weak and inadequate. This affects the way people look at them in a negative manner and causes their respect to decrease. Amir looks up to Baba and feels disappointed in himself since he can’t seem to make his father happy. Baba is frustrated because Amir is nothing like what Baba use to be like. This affects the way people look at them in a negative manner. An additional time in the story when they mention gender inequality is when Amir says, “I cringed a little at the position of power I’d been granted and all because I had won the lottery that determined