Analyzing The Breadwinner Through the Gender/Feminist Lens In 1996 in Afghanistan, the Taliban - a Muslim extremist group - took over Afghanistan in a military coup. Women were denied basic rights, and violence and oppression were on the rise. In the film The Breadwinner directed by Nora Twomey, an 11-year-old girl named Parvana navigates life under Taliban rule, with her family including her Baba, Mama, her sister Soraya, and little brother Zaki. When her father is wrongfully arrested, she cuts her hair to look like a boy and makes it her mission to free him before war comes from an American invasion. By analyzing The Breadwinner through the gender/feminist lens, we see the themes of resistance to tyranny, tenaciousness, and inequality of …show more content…
The Taliban are a tyrannical form of government in Afghanistan who oppress women in the film, including Parvana and her family. “ ‘Well, she should cover herself properly’, ‘Well maybe you should stop looking at her’, What did you say to me!’ ‘I said, stop looking at her’ ‘I could have you killed, watch what you say’ ” (Twomey 6:41 - 6:51). In this scene, a Taliban member named Idrees is badgering Parvana and her father. As shown, Baba stands up to Idrees even though he could have killed him. By standing up for Parvana, Baba illustrates a main theme of resistance to tyranny, but there are other themes commonly found such as tenaciousness. Another theme found in The Breadwinner after looking at it through the gender/feminist lens is the showing of tenacity. Throughout the film, Parvana is tenacious and persistent in helping her family and to free her Baba. Once Parvana’s Baba is taken to prison, it falls upon her to get food and provide for the family. As a woman, she obviously couldn’t do that in a Taliban-ruled country, so she cut her hair to look like a boy.” ‘Please don’t go, it’s much too dangerous now’, ‘Mamajaan, I must’ ” (Twomey 1:06:24 - …show more content…
Throughout the movie, the Taliban had the most power as they were the militant government. For regular citizens, though, men had power while women didn’t. Women weren’t even allowed to leave the house without a man alongside them. “You’re an insult to your husband, you are an insult to your race” (Twomey 14:10 - 14:14). In this particular scene, Parvana and her mother are out trying to find where Baba is located but they get stopped by Taliban members on their way. They get asked where the husband is and then he proceeds to insult her before beating her with a stick, all because she didn’t have a man alongside her. Throughout most of the film, analyzing the imbalances in power between different identities can give a better understanding of the scenes. By interpreting The Breadwinner through the Gender/Feminist lens, themes of resistance to tyranny, tenaciousness, and inequality of power are prominent throughout the film. Resistance is shown through Baba’s efforts to stand against Idrees for Parvana. Tenacity is exceptionally shown throughout the film in Parvana’s efforts to get her Baba back from the Taliban
The Taliban regime was infamous for its treatment of women. Windows had to be painted black so men could not look into the windows of houses and see the women inside. Women were unable to work. Under Taliban rule, women were not allowed to be educated, unable to go to school or university. 9 out of 10 Afghan women are illiterate. Unfortunately, Meena was unwillingly cast into the role of teacher to young girls who wanted to learn how to read. Because she had been to university, girls flocked to...
One of the main controversies in this book is the plight of women and men’s struggles. Although both experienced different kinds of inequalities, women were the target of the Taliban. In 1978, women in Kabul were demanding their rights during the Afghan Women’s Year. The president who was in charge then was president Daoud, and he decreed, “The Afghan woman has the same right as the Afghan man to exercise personal freedom, choose a career, and fins a partner in marriage” (53). This decree was absolutely invalid when the Taliban expelled a humanitarian organization that was run by women, and because of that, the Taliban took over Kabul. Women were not allowed to work outside of home. Because of that, Latifa mentions that women in Kabul usually just bake bread, do embroidery,
Parvana is a girl living in Afghanistan, which is under Taliban rule at the moment. She was forced out of her school, just because she was a girl. When this story starts, we see Parvana sitting on a rug in the marketplace with her father. Her father reads letters to those who can’t read. Parvana lives with her mother, father, sisters, and younger brother. One night, the Taliban come to her house and take away her father. He was the bread winner of the family, hence the name. He was the only one who could make money for his family. Her younger brother, Ali, couldn’t get money for them, because he was too young. She choose to go out and get some Nan (flat bread) for her family. She got chased by a Taliban soldier, and met an old teacher. The teacher, Mrs. Weera,
“Stop Gender Apartheid in Afghanistan!” Feminist Majority Foundation. Online. The. 20 Feb. 2000. “Taliban publicly executes woman murderer.”
Since the tragedies of September 11th 2001, Americans have really opened their eyes to the political state of Afghanistan. The poor treatment of women in Afghanistan is an issue that, for many Americans, just seems to be coming to light as a serious concern that requires outside attention. Extreme Islamic leaders in the country persist in limiting the freedom that Afghan women have. Women in the Taliban-controlled country suffer unusually hideous acts of torment and are forced to abide by outrageous regulations because of stringent enforcement methods. Afghan women daily live lives restricted by Taliban law and risk having to endure cruel punishment and torture, yet Afghan political leaders continue to justify the their treatment of Afghan women.
Khaled Hosseini, an inspirational author, has experienced and wrote books based on the society and culture of Afghanistan. In A Thousand Splendid Suns, the main protagonist, Laila, is in the middle of a war-fighting country. At one point, her father says to her, “marriage can wait, education cannot” (Hosseini 103). Her father urges her to take the advantages of knowledge rather than jumping into marriage. Marriage is a life-long process that according to the Quran, bids a woman to follow her husband. All in all, it’s general knowledge that love, respect, and trust is what keeps the strong bond between man and wife. There have been too many times where they have been caged and looked down upon. Women deserve the same equality as men. It won’t happen immediately, but the change is happening, slowly. One way to gain that right, is to create an organization and promote the idea of women being able to get a job, education, and not being married at an early age in Afghanistan. The organization would be able to collect money for two buildings. One building will be for a school, so that women get the education they deserve. The other building opens up for opportunities for a job. Those jobs could range from sewing to cooking. Women are more than just a trophy to just sit there and act as though they do not have a voice. The challenge may be a struggle but not
Kamila knew she had value as a human being and was very aware that her duty was to help her family and her community. Although the Taliban took away women’s education, that did not deter Kamila for long. She knew she was a very intellectual girl and nothing was going to keep her from eventually continuing her education. Rockets shooting out of the sky did not stop her and neither was the Taliban.(Lemmon, 2011, p. 2) Stereotypes are stemmas that society has constructed about groups for people to help understand them and gender roles are what society expects of someone whether they are born a male or female. Kamila challenges female stereotypes and gender roles in many ways throughout this book. As a woman, she is expected to want to stay home, become a wife, raise children, and live for her husband’s every need and desire. That is not the case for Kamila at all. Kamila wants to get an education and when her family needs her, she establishes her own business. Finding a suitor and starting a family was far from her mind. The typical stereotype for women is fragile, easily deterred, and compliant. That could not be any further than that of Kamila. Kamila is a strong, determined young woman that does what it takes to help her family
When Parvana was living in Afghanistan her family was going through hard living conditions. This is because the taliban people did not let girls and women go outside. Also there was a lot of bombings and they could of been frightened. Her dad had lost a leg and he might have been tired because he only hops on one leg. Therefore he can always be sleepy. Parvana did help her dad walk and she also could have been scared because she was outside. Ali and Maryam must be very scared because they are little and they don’t know what is going on. Nooria would also be scared from the taliban people and so as the mom because they are getting older and they can get killed easier. The Taliban people are taking over Afghanistan and they are bombing everyone and everything in Afghanistan. Women are not allowed to go outside and there is no more education in Afghanistan at the time. That is what is happening in Afghanistan at that time
From the 1950’s until around 1985 the Soviet Union had Afghanistan under its control. This Soviet involvement in Afghanistan caused the ideologies of communism to spread into the Afghanistan culture. One of the communistic ideas that were assimilated into was the thought that every person is equal. This idea made life a lot easier for the women of Afghanistan. One of the freedoms they were given under Soviet control was the allowance of woman being educated, “The government had sponsored literacy classes for all women. Almost two-thirds of the students at Kabul University were women now… women who were studying law, medicine, engineering” (135) Hosseini expresses this through the character Laila. Laila’s father, Babi, was a professor and strongly urged the necessity for Laila to get an education. He was so dedicated that he would help out Laila with her homework every night. Hosseini expressed this when Laila claimed “Babi thought that the one thing that communists had done right- or at least intended to- ironically, was in the filed of education… More specifically the education of women.” (135). To Babi there was nothing more impertinent than the education of woman in Afghanistan. He knew that when half the population is illiterate the country cannot properly aspire to new and better things. Along with the new right to learn, women’s requirement to cover their skin was relaxed all throughout Afghanistan. ...
This broader vision of feminism is present all over the world, like amongst the women of areas like Pakistan, Iran, and Afghanistan, whose oppression is constantly evoked by Western political leaders to justify war and occupation. For example, Malala Yousafzai stated her support for socialism and criticized U.S. orchestrated drone attacks for killing civilians, displacing
The Web. 25 May 2014. The Taliban's War Against Women. U.S. Department of State. N.p.
Sociological study on the gendered division of labour within the domestic sphere has perennially been characterised by evidence of a clear inequality concerning the allocation of unpaid chores within the home between men and women (Warren, 2003:734). While men have traditionally been regarded as primary breadwinners, the management of home-maintenance has remained largely women’s responsibility (Breen & Cooke, 2005:47). A number of theories exist to explain this unequal distribution of domestic labour, in particular the economic exchange model (which argues that women perform domestic duties in ‘exchange’ for financial support from their husbands), and the gender display model, which asserts that household labour is divided on the basis of the symbolic importance of gender (Baxter, 2002:401). While this paper will argue the inherent features of both models, it will also discuss the importance of gender stereotypes in maintaining the unequal distribution of household labour, despite women’s increasing involvement in the workforce. The paper will also demonstrate that the issue of a gendered division of labour holds great significance for sociological study, particularly surrounding issues of power, dominance and authority in the gender regime.
It follows, then that women were and still are underestimated in terms of leadership. According to Webster’s dictionary, “feminism” is the theory of the political, economic, and social equality of the sexes. As the strong and independent character Nanny Flowers puts it, “you may be the boss out there, but I’m the boss in this kitchen” (Whale Rider, 2002). In making this comment, Nanny Flowers confronts Koro, the Chief of the community as well as her stubborn and traditional husband. She does so by asserting her role as an authoritative and independent woman, despite his sexist demand to clean up his spilt coffee. Just like her grandmother, Paikea, shows she doesn’t belong to any sweeping generalizations regarding women. Women know they are discriminated against and are inferior to men, but Paik...
The streets of Kabul were alive with people selling fresh fruits, beautiful clothes, and delicious food; to an outsider, it looked like a lively place. But looking into the city's depths, the cracks started to show. Women were forced inside and could not leave without a man, they were beaten with no probable cause, and through the eyes of the Taliban, they were nothing more than objects. The film follows the life of Parvana, a young girl who lives in Kabul, Afghanistan, during the Taliban’s rule. Paravana lives at home with her mother and father, her older sister Soraya, and her younger brother Zaki, and throughout the movie, she has run-ins with an older man, Idrees, who is part of the Taliban movement.
The book, A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini, portrays a story of two girls growing up in modern Afghanistan as they confront war and cultural conflicts. The author uses this plot uses this plot to show the theme. Characters such as Laila, Mariam, and Nana help provide the theme that women are limited by patriarchal institutions in society and government, and the men who create the oppression. Nana is a static character, who illustrates how the oppression from a patriarchy can affect a woman’s life in Afghanistan.