Maalai Joya Women's Rights

The BBC has called Malalai Joya "the bravest woman in Afghanistan,” a statement that only brushes the surface of her influence in the world. In her biography A Woman Among Warlords, Malalai shows agency by being active in politics, supporting education for women, and advocating for women’s rights regardless of the unfavorable political and social conditions in her land. Women in Afghanistan are restricted by brutal warlords and their warped political agendas but nonetheless show agency in restraining circumstances. Malalai Joya’s activity in the Afghan Parliament is a leading demonstration of her agency because without her political experience, her ability to act independently in terms of education and for the rights of women would not be

Before the Northern Alliance and Taliban governments came to power, nearly half of all university students were women prior to the US-Soviet conflict in Afghanistan. In fact, women were doctors, teachers, and civil servants. Then, an Islamic extremist political campaign in Afghanistan came to power in 1996: the Taliban. Under the Taliban, women couldn’t be employed or get an education until the Taliban came up with a suitable course of study (Ewig, November 23 Lecture). These restraining circumstances in Afghanistan silenced many people, men and women alike. Although she could have been quiet, Malalai Joya took action independent of her corrupt governmental system by becoming an educator in clandestine girls’ schools and concealing her books under her burqa so the Taliban couldn’t discover them, which was a huge risk to take. Although women in Afghanistan technically have the freedom to be educated, illiteracy of women is at 80 percent, in comparison to 50 percent for males. Also, females both young and old are terrified of being assaulted on the way to school (Ewig, November 30 Lecture). The Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan asks, “how can women go out unveiled and have a normal life without the fear of warlords who like hunting dogs annoy, insult, and rape them?” (RAWA, 428). Even

Women such as Malalai express agency simply by challenging the ideals of oppression of the Afghan culture when no one else will. The concept of “orientalism" has a lot to do with why Arab countries are seen as repressive and unitary. “Orientalism” is a method of observing that assumes, stresses, embellishes and falsifies variations of Arab individuals and values in relation to that of the West. Intellectual Edward Said says that the orient was nearly a western creation, and had been since the distant past an area of fantasy, mysterious individuals, unforgettable images and scenery, and extraordinary adventures. He says, “the Orient has helped to define Europe (or the West) as its contrasting image, idea, personality, experience” (Said, Orientalism). Orientalist rhetoric such as this has not allowed women in the Middle East to express agency. Malalai challenges these orientalist stereotypes by getting married at the age of 26, which is much older than is expected of females in Afghanistan. She made a conscious decision to get married at an age that she felt comfortable with, and it was never specifically forced on her to get married at a younger age. It is the orientalist rhetoric that has taken away women’s ability to act independently, but Malalai sees through that. In Afghanistan today, there has been improvements in the legal marriage