What Is The Role Of Women In A Thousand Splendid Suns?

The discussion of Muslim dress in relation to modesty is globally controversial and reiterated in the novel A Thousand Splendid Suns written by Khaled Hosseini in 2007. The three main types of modest Muslim dress are the burqa, hijab, and niqab. These accoutrements can emotionally and physically affect women in positive and negative ways. Some women feel that the burqa protects them from the world and increases their body positivity, while others argue the burqa is dangerous for health and leaves women prisoner to cloth. These garments are symbolic for the oppression of women globally, but others argue that the usage of the burqa is taken out of context to justify foreign actions in the Middle East. The burqa effects women negatively and positively,

According to Doucleff, “‘wearing the hijab eliminates many of the hassles women have to go through — such as dyeing their hair,’ she says. ‘For example, you're getting old, and gray hairs, when you wear the hijab, you might not think about dyeing your hair because nobody sees it anyway.’” By wearing a hijab women do not have to worry about “gray hairs, and can focus on other parts of their lives. Although this seems like a trivial improvement, women in the west spend inestimable amounts of money on beauty products and a surfeit amount of time on their daily regimen. Even though the burqa is therapeutic in helping women with their appearance, it can be physically restricting, “Mariam had never before worn a burqa…The padded headpiece felt tight and heavy on her skull…The loss of peripheral vision was unnerving, and she did not like the suffocating way the pleated cloth kept pressing against her mouth” (72). In this excerpt the burqa is described as “tight”, “heavy”, and “suffocating, making it seem like an unpleasant garment to be ensconced in. The burqa can cause an “unnerving” feeling, which can make daily tasks hard to complete. When interviewing a girl in Afghanistan Daniel Pipes, American historian, writer, and commentator, got her opinion on the burqa, “When I wear a burqa it gives me a really bad feeling. I don't like to wear it…I don't like it, it upsets me, I can't breathe properly.” The discomfort the girl feels in the burqa “upsets” her, linking her physical distress to emotional distress. The girl gets “a really bad feeling” when she wears a burqa, showing that the physical effects of the burqa can be negative. Besides the physical hardships Muslim dress may cause, it can also cover up physical abuse, “A Muslim teenage girl