The Lives of Afghani Women : Has it Always Been This Way?

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The Lives of Afghani Women : Has it Always Been This Way?

A lot of attention has been drawn to the plight of women in Afghanistan. Many people understand what has been going on with the treatment of women in Afghanistan but very few understand. There should be more understanding of how women were treated before, during, and after the Taliban regime.
Afghanistan was a very different place before the Taliban came to power. Women had a different role in society. They enjoyed much more freedom and equality. They could go to colleges of their choice and pursue careers they wanted to have. In fact prior to the Taliban takeover of Kabul ( the capital of Afghanistan ), 60% of Kabul University teachers were women, half the students, women made up of half of the civilian government worker population, 70% of the school teachers, 40% of the doctors, some women have served in parliament (Schulz). Women could go out to restaurants, discos, walk publicly with their boyfriends, and enjoyed a much looser dress code. The most popular Afghani women’s clothes of the time were in fact, jeans and mini-skirts (Schulz).
The creation and enforcement of the burqa comes from a combination of a misinterpretation of the Koran and influences from the Pushtun residents of the country. The Koran has a brief passage that describes that women should abide by decent codes of conduct and their bosoms and private parts should be veiled (Goodson). In Pushtun societies women have a lesser role and lead more sheltered lives, but they were still respected (Goodson). So women had a very restrictive dress code that included wearing veils that covered almost their entire body till the late 1950’s, but it should be noted that they were treated with a lot more respect and equality than during the Taliban regime (Schulz).
In August, 1959 Prime Minister Muhammad Daoud officially ended seclusion for women and abolished veiling. He put this into affect using a public statement during their national celebration of independence. The Prime Minister put together a ceremony where all the wives and daughters of men with the highest government positions revealed themselves unveiled to the public. He also strongly opposed any opposition to this idea and made veiling voluntary. So therefore started a new era where women had a more prominent role in Afgh...

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... of survival and can be killed for such lifestyles (Jones). However there is hope for the women of Afghanistan as there are many organizations being formed that are helping the cause (Basiri).
Afghani women have came a long way and still have quite a distance to go to regain the freedom and equality they haven’t had since before the Soviets occupied Afghanistan. If outsiders become more aware of their situation and why things are that way and put more effort into their aid it can only help these women boundlessly.

Works Cited

Basiri, Sadiqa. “The Current State of Afghanistan.” Off Our Backs July-Aug
2004: 18-21

Goodson, Larry. “Perverting Islam: Taliban social policy for women.”
Central Asian Survey 2001: 415-426

Jones, Ann. “Letter From Afghanistan.” Nation 4 Oct 2004: 1-4

Noelle-Karimi, Christine. “History Lessons.” Women’s Review of Books
Apr 2004: 1-5

Schulz, John and Linda. “The Darkest of Ages: Women under the Taliban.”
Peace & Conflict 1999: 1-11

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