Afghan women and lack of rights The book The Lovers: Afghanistan’s Romeo and Juliet, by Rod Nordland, is a true story about two couples who ran away from home to get married. Zakia and Ali are from two different tribes. As they got older they started to develop feelings for each other. After months of planning, they decide to run away. They lived and still live in a constant state of fear of being found by Zakia’s family. They have promised to avenge their honor and bring her back home so she can get what she deserved. Zakia and Ali are still hiding.
The name Afghanistan means,“Lands of Afghans”. (The Origin Of The name Afghan) Their religion practically takes up most of their lives. “Islam is practiced by the majority of Afghanis and governs much of their personal, political, economic and legal lives.” (Afghanistan Guide) One of the most common images of the religion is when the women wear a veil to cover themselves up. This is just one of the many ‘laws’ that Muslim women have to face. The book The Lovers: Afghanistan’s Romeo and Juliet, by Rod Nordland, is about two couples, Zakia and Ali, who escaped the clutches of their families in the name of love. It is significant because they’re both from strict Muslim families and Zakia defied what a normal Afghan should do. Even though every
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“Such ultraviolence is often a distinguishing characteristic of honor killings.” (60) The husband was killed with his whole head chopped off with an ax. The woman was in no better shape, she had gashes from the ax on her face but she survived. The event wasn’t a clean kill, it was done in a way to demonstrate their passion and hatred towards the couple. The honor killing reveals how deeply rooted beliefs about what will happen to a woman who oversteps her boundaries. Honor killings are still done today but they’re much less publicized and the body is usually
The novel Prince of Afghanistan by Louis Nowra (2015) explores two Australian soldiers, Casey and Mark who are involved in a mission to rescue hostages captured by the Taliban in Afghanistan. However, due to the unfortunate death of Casey, being killed by a Taliban rocket, his dog, Prince is left behind with no carer, other than Mark. With the brutality of war, and the race against hunger, danger and time, they both must rely on each other for survival. As the story reflects upon Australians engagement with Asia, it conveys themes of friendship, trust and the nature of courage and heroism through the character, character development and the relationship among each other.
Love can be found in the darkest places. Well not everyone can handle the oppression of the Taliban control, or simply being unable to find something worth loving. In The Swallows Of Kabul written by Yasmina Khadra, a character named Atiq finds himself going through the same things. Living a depressing life married to his sick wife Musarrat, he lays eyes on a recent widow named Zunaira and fall madly in love. In a turn of bad events he ends up losing Zunaira and Musarrat. Unable to handle such trauma he loses control and dies. In The Swallows Of Kabul, author Yasmina Khadra presents the idea that Love give people a reason to live. This theme has a large impact on on Atiq and can be shown in his life before, during and after he loses Zuniera. Eventually leading to Atiq to a mental breakdown and his death.
In the novel All The Shah’s Men we are introduced to Iran, and the many struggles and hardships associated with the history of this troubled country. The Iranian coup is discussed in depth throughout the novel, and whether the Untied States made the right decision to enter into Iran and provide assistance with the British. If I were to travel back to 1952 and take a position in the CIA (Central Intelligence Agency) for the sole purpose of examining the American Foreign Intelligence, I would have to conclude that the United States should have examined their options more thoroughly, and decided not to intervene with Iran and Mossadegh. I have taken this position after great analysis, which is something that Eisenhower and his staff never did. By discussing the history of Iran, the Anglo-Iranian oil company, and Document NSC-68 I will try to prove once and for all that going through with the coup in Iran was a terrible mistake made by the United States.
The women in Afghanistan during this time period, were shielded from the outside world, and the outside world was shielded from them. Women became nobody’s and their life was unimportant. Burqas kept the women from being who they were, and being more than just a wife. They were not known or judged for the women they used to be, but for the wives they had become. Whether they could cook well, keep a house clean, or even bear children (particularly boys), it never mattered. What mattered was that they obeyed their husbands and the rules of the Taliban. “You will not, under any circumstance, show your face. You will cover with a burqa when outside, If you do not, you will be severely beaten.” (pg. 278). Before the Taliban forced women to wear burqas, women were already being diminished. Women were raped, beaten and even killed just by walking outside their house. That doesn’t even start to describe what happened behind closed doors. Women were already losing their rights, but burqas took away who they were. Burqas affected Mariam and Laila in a big way. Mariam was barely a teenager when she married Rasheed, and had grown up with a strong, independent, man-hating mother. Mariam was never taught that she
Islam has influenced many cultures around the world. For centuries, Islam has had an immense influence on the Afghan culture. According to this religion, women have no rights. The men took advantage of this system by translating only what they wanted from the Koran; to enslave the women in our culture for their own desires. From the beginning, the women on no account had any civil rights or have power over their own lives, and most were uneducated and had accepted what their teachers taught in schools and mosques. My family moved to the US when the Russians invaded Afghanistan. I thank god to be one of the lucky women who did not have to live in Afghanistan and for giving me a better place to live in America. Unfortunately, this was not the case for the majority of the Afghan women. Under the cruel Taliban government the women were banned to work, and were not allowed outside their homes without being escorted by a man. The film Osama, inspired by a true story, is about Osama, a young girl who did lived in Kabul while the Taliban regime. Through Osama's story, I had a chance to see what it was like to live in Afghanistan as a woman. This is a story of a girl whose faith was in the hands of many different people: her family, the Taliban soldiers, and the city judge. Osama and I have different lives on different continents; however, we both could have had more rights and better life if we were born men.
Throughout recent history, Afghanistan has been a country in turmoil. Famine, drought, civil war and Taliban rule have all had a significant impact on the Afghani people. While this has taken a very negative toll on all Afghan people, I believe, that none have been more negatively impacted than the women of Afghanistan. Having said that, not everything the Western world deems as a negative is also considered negative by the women and men of Afghanistan. One only has to read this quote, “Wearing the burqua is not mandatory, but few women are rushing to remove them” (Germani 14). While the Taliban and al-Qaida’s rule had a great negative impact from 1996-2001 and obviously oppressive to all Afghani women. They were not the sole source of oppression felt by the Afghan females as stated in this quote, “The roots of patriarchal oppression go deep in Afghan society - far deeper than the Taliban or al-Qaida.”(Rostami-Povey, E. 2007)
Abstract: Women of Afghanistan are forced to live under oppressive regulations set forth for them by the men of their societies. Women have virtually no rights to do anything for themselves. There entire lives are controlled by and lived for someone else. Through their songs, they lament the conditions of their lives and are able to convey a beauty in their verses that all people can identity with. (67 words)
The Afghan and Muslim community take the idea of honour very seriously. They honour their family name and reputation very dearly. If someone within their family were to act or behave in such a way that the family’s honour is put into question the head, typically the father or the eldest male will act in a barbaric way that could potentially be deadly. This extreme sense of honour is prevalent throughout the novel A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini and the documentary “Honour Killing”. If a female were to act in a way that dishonors their reputation the husband or male relative believes they are allowed to punish those who brought the shame to their family without being held accountable for their actions.
In "Dear Juliet" Omer's family is the enemy of Hala's family, but Hala and Omer have fallen in love. This relates to “Romeo and Juliet” because in the play “Romeo and Juliet” Juliet’s parents want her to marry Paris but she has fallen in love with Romeo and has already married him. In both of these stories the main characters decide to go against their family’s wishes and follow their heart. Romeo and Juliet in Bosnia is an informational text that is about two people of different religions falling in love. In Romeo and Juliet in Bosnia, Bosko and Admira are the main characters of the article that come from families of different religions, but although their families don’t approve they fall in love. Admira is a Muslim and Bosko is an Eastern Orthodox Serb.
Lila Abu-Lughod’s article titled, “Do Muslim Women Really Need Saving?” takes a closer look at the problematic ethnocentric approach many have when trying to gain an understanding of another culture that may be foreign to that individual. In this analytical paper, Lughod looks at women in Islam, specifically the treatment of women and how it might be utilized as a justification for invading into a country and liberating its people. The country Lughod refers to in her article is Afghanistan, and Lughod points out the misunderstanding from the people to the Bush administration like First Lady Laura Bush who believed that intervention was necessary to free women from the captivity of their own homes. It is important to consider the role that different lenses play into all of this, especially when one’s lenses are being shaped by the media. Depictions of covered women secluded from society leave a permanent image in the minds of many, who would then later support the idea of liberation. This paper will discuss that the practice of using propaganda when referring to the lifestyle in the Middle East is not exclusive to the U.S; rather it has been utilized throughout history. Additionally, we will take a closer look on the importance of symbols, such as veils in this case; help to further emphasize the cause to liberate. Finally, we will analyze Lughod’s plea towards cultural relativism and away from liberal imperialism.
The religion of Islam was imposed upon Iranians, whether they liked it or not. Marjane and her classmates “...didn’t like to wear the veil, especially since we didn’t understand why we had to”(Satrapi 3). The young girls were against wearing the veil because they were not practicing
...a visit with Aziza, Laila saw a middle-aged woman, with her burqa pushed back…Laila recognized the sharp face… Laila remembered this woman once forbidding the female students from covering, saying women and men were equal, that there was no reason for women should cover if men didn’t” (322). To see a woman who was as close to a feminist as a woman in Afghanistan could get, to see her fall to level that the government wanted her at was crucial point in the novel that allowed us to really see the affect that the government had on the women in controlling every aspect of their lives.
A reporter by the name of Quraishi says that this is “a culture where wealthy Afghan men openly exploit some of the poorest, most vulnerable members of their society” (“Introduction”). These rich men will exploit boys, and use them for dancing, and sexual activities. These men strip the boys of their masculine identity by making the boys dress up as women; wearing women clothing, fake breasts, and bells on their ankles. After dressing the boys to their taste, they would take the boys to a party, and make them dance for hours. Furthermore, some men actually take the boys to hotels to sexually abuse them (Qobil).
The novel A Thousand Splendid Suns explores the plight of women in Afghanistan; the focus is put on three women Nana, Mariam and Laila. Women in Afghanistan often face difficult and unfortunate situations. In this essay we will examine some of these unfortunate situations for women.
The cast of Quentin Tarantino’s Kill Bill Volume 1 is predominantly female, the main character (“The Bride”) is a fearless heroine who battles other savage villainesses. However, this film’s revenge plot is based on acts of sexual and physical violence (The Bride’s is intended to be murdered, raped, and believes her unborn child was killed) which do not objectify The Bride. Rather then being objectified, she is depicted as a woman who’s honor was forcibly removed. She is reduced to a coma state (an object) by those who victimized her; when she awakens she seeks vengeance. The men responsible for sexually abusing her are objectified by the object they objectified, rendering her superior.