Afghanistan: A Model for Abuse of Women
24 Jan, 2008
If
I were unlucky enough to be born anywhere but the United States, I
would put being born female, poor, and Afghan at the top of my list.
Being a woman in most of the Muslim world is not lucky either, but
in Saudi Arabia, being female and rich permits some relief. In
Malaysia and Indonesia, the practice of Islam “lite” and coming from
a moneyed family helps too; in Iran, the difference is being urban
rather than a rural villager; in Pakistan, urban rather than tribal.
- But in Afghanistan, aside from the small elite groups in Kabul and Herat, the life of woman is about as miserable as can be imagined. Only the genitally mutilated women of Sudan, Somalia, and village Egypt can possibly be worse.
Afghanistan is getting a good deal of attention right now because of the wonderful film, The Kite Runner, based on Khaled Hosseini’s first and widely read novel of the same name. That particular novel and its film focus on the lives of men of various classes and ethnicities, which is itself fascinating, and puts our own racial divides into perspective. Afghanistan has not yet dealt with its ethnic poisons; if one is not a Pashtun tribesman (as was the late king and the present President), one has little voice in that society and little defense from persecution.
But Hosseini’s new book, A Thousand Splendid Suns, focuses on the lives of women in a most indelible way. He does not propagandize; he just tells the story of two women from different classes who attempt to survive under the Taliban and under a brute of a Pashtun husband. I am reading this and thinking of my late Iranian mother-in-law, who was born into a world not very different from today’s Afghanistan, but who was lucky enough to live through the modernization of Reza Shah Pahlavi, who began the process of turning most women’s lives around. Afghanistan has not been as lucky. Their own modernizing shahs were assassinated, and even modernizing Russian Communism was defeated by the most benighted factions, mostly Pashtun. What was the issue behind the Afghan revolt against the Russian occupation? The emancipation of women, of course.
One other film tangential to this issue is Charlie Wilson’s War, the true story of how a playboy congressman from Texas led a surprising campaign to arm the Islamic fanatic Pashtuns so that they could bring down the mighty Soviet occupation. This is a painful example of believing that the enemy of your enemy is your friend. The Islamists were not our friends, and accordingly punished us for our mistake by hosting al Qaeda and their 9/11 attack on us. The Russians have every reason for gloating.
In Hosseini’s new book, we learn what it is like to be a female whose entire existence depends upon the good will of a husband not even of her choosing. It is a case of depending only upon luck. Even a fairly decent man, with total power, can become a tyrant and even a monster. His wife is his property, whom he can abuse with impunity—to the point of killing her. And many do just that. She (and most like her) is deprived of education, medical care, gynecological attention, legal protection from battery, and no one will protest her death. The husband is a total dictator – and in tribal villages, the entire male population of the village fills that role. Where can an abused woman run?
The Pashtun code, so admired by our Cold Warriors, was the code
of honor and valor. They were afraid of nothing. Admirable. However,
the other part of that code is the gender code: that a woman who
shows her face or any part of her body to someone other than her
husband is a whore who has compromised his “honor” and must be
killed.
The sad truth is that this Pashtun code has spread and has been picked up by the crazy Islamists likely being funded by Saudi money all over the world today. Honor killings go on among European Muslims (unheard of before) and the burka, the cloak of invisibility required for Afghan women, has been adopted in far too many places, including here.
A recent Bizarro cartoon shows a group of women in Afghan burkas having their picture taken by another woman. A passerby, also in a burka, offers to replace the photographer so that she can get into the picture. I laughed, and then I cried.
| If you like this essay: |
Stumble it
 |
digg it |
Dr. Laina Farhat-Holzman is an historian, lecturer, and author. Born in Rochester, New York, she was married to an Iranian 15 years, lived on and off in Iran, and had two children in that marriage. She maintains her blog: www.globalthink.net. She also writes for the Pajaronian, the Santa Cruz Sentinel and Family Security Matters. She can be contacted at Lfarhat102@aol.com.
Name: something abt afgan women
Date: Wednesday January 23, 2008
Time: 22:37:51 -0700
Comment
some time ago in mumbai,an afgan woman vida afridi had coem all the way from kabul to take part in a beauty contest which also means she had to wear bikini. the funny part is that indian muslims started protesting against this afgan woman.....and they did not protest against indian muslim women who wera bikini,and after this some afgan cleric even issued death fatwa to her. the poor girl was sent back by pseudo secular congress govt back. this is the jihad waged by muslims against women.
Name: vbv
Date: Thursday January 24, 2008
Time: 00:50:31 -0700
Comment
Narrow-minded skunks these muslims are. Downright hypocrites and blackguards! In India they not only chased away an Afghan beauty contestant, but they routinely target the Indian tennis player Sania Mirza for the tennis gear she wears. What do they expect? Wear a full sack like the burqa and play tennis? Or perhaps not play tennis at all! All this when they don't mind muslim women trapped and tortured in the world's oldest profession of prostitution, including 'courtesan' nautch-girls called 'Tawaif'. It clearly reflects their lecherous mentality , like their immoral and lecherous prophet promising them ( I mean the muslim men) a lecherous paradise of eternal sex and orgies forever, while women are consigned to eternal 'Hell'! All this and yet I have come across muslim women claiming to find piety and goodness in islam! Ignorant dolts these women are, when the whole world has seen the condition of women in orthodox islamic societies like Iran, Afghanistan, Saudi Arabia,etc! Art,music, movies, entertainment, TV,dance, drama,sports etc. are all anathema to muslims,while weapons , brutality,murder, rape ,torture,etc are pious islamic activities!
Name: MUSLIMS WOMEN FR U HELL IS GAURANTEED....HAHAHAHAHAAAAAA.AL HAM DULL ILL...AAAAAA...HAHAHAHAAAAA
Date: Thursday January 24, 2008
Time: 04:26:57 -0700
Comment
AS PER SOME MULLAS ON PEACE TV AND SOME SHIT CHANNEL,WOMEN MUST OBEY HER MAN-HUSBAND ELSE EVEN IF SHE DONT OVEY HIM 1 TIME SHE IS HELL BOUND. NOW RECON THIS : IN ISLAM WOMAN MUST PLEASE HER HUSBAND OR BE HELL BOUND,SO MAN BRING IN 2DN WIFE AND TELL HER SAY YES TO SECOND MARRIAGE OR ELSE I WILL BE DISPLEASED WITH U AND U WILL GO TO HELL,SO SHE AHS TO SAY YES. IT MEANS ISLAM ENSLAVES WOMAN.WOMEN MUST LEAVE ISLAM IMMEDIATELY BCOZ UNDER ANY SITUATION EVEN 1 TIME SDISPLEASING HUSBAND MEANS SHE IS HELL BOUND SO TO SAVE HERSELF FROM HELL AND ALSO ISLAM SHE MUST IMMEDIATELY LEAVE ISLAM. HAHAHAHAHAAAA...AL HAM DULL ILL AAAHHHH...HAHAHAAAA
Name: I FORGOT TO ADD VIDA AFRIDI WAS REAL HOT !!!!
Date: Thursday January 24, 2008
Time: 04:28:41 -0700
Comment
I FORGOT TO ADD VIDA AFRIDI WAS REAL HOT, I SAW HER IN J.W.MARRIOT,IN BIKINI ROUND,BUT LATER SHE WAS SHOUTED DOWN BY MULLAS.
Name: WOMEN IN ISLAM AND MAN'S ATTITUDE
Date: Thursday January 24, 2008
Time: 04:35:59 -0700
Comment
A MAN HAS DIABETIES-SGAR PROBEM,AND HE PASSES A CHOCOLATE SHOP....SO HE HAS 2 OPTIONS...EAT THE CHOCOLATE AND SUFFER HEALTH PROBLEM,OR HV SELF CONTROL.BUT IF HE BREAK INTO THE SHOP AND STEAL THE STUFF OR BUY AND EAT....ITS HIS FAULT NOT THE SHOP.SAME WAY LET US LOOK AT MUSLIM ATTITUTE : WOMAN MUST COVER UP ELSE SHE WILL GET SEXY STARE FROM MEN,WHAT THEY FORGET IS THAT WOMAN IS SEXY TO MAN AND MAN IS SEXY TO WOMAN ITS NATURAL,BCOZ WE R NOT CREATED BY FAKE DEITY LLAH BUT EVOLEDV BY NATURE.HERE IT IS MAN'S DUTY TO OBSERVE SELF RESTRAINT AND RESPECT THE WOMAN.THUS HONOUR KILLINGS ETC R DUE TO THE MUSLIMS LACK FO SELF CONTROL AND NOT DUE TO WOMAN NOT WEARKING BURKA. IN EURPOEAN SOCIETY AND EVEN AFRICA NUDITY IS COMMON,BUT RAPE IS LESS,AND IN ISLAMIC SOCIETY DUE TO SO MUCH SEXUAL REPRESSION ON MEN AND WOMEN THESE CRIMES R MORE.
Name: muslim
Date: Thursday January 24, 2008
Time: 10:04:25 -0700
Comment
guys dr laina farhat-holzman is talking about the sufrence of women in afghanistan, and islam is inocent of this acts , islam gave woman a very high position and if she want to put herself down and wear a bikini or even walk naked it is up to her , if she is muslim she is a desobedient and she is committing a big sin , and if she is not muslim she has no values as a woman
Name: to muslim
Date: Thursday January 24, 2008
Time: 12:39:06 -0700
Comment
I have read the koran and it states that a woman must cover up. read the koran in a language that you can understand first before you go spouting off. I for a long, long time thought it was the woman who decided whether or not to cover up or not. I'm finding out that I am wrong. In many places if a woman doesn't cover up, she is beaten to either an inch of her life, or she is dead. If a man can go around with nothing on his head and have his face exposed, why not a woman? Why is a woman a whore and not the man?
Name: Igor the Infidel
Date: Thursday January 24, 2008
Time: 13:36:45 -0700
Comment
To Muslim, do you need to ask why the woman is a whore and not the man? You already know the answer. It's because Mohammad was a sex-obsessed adulterer. He lusted after nearly every woman he saw, so to keep himself from going completely insane with lust, he ordered that women should cover themselves. He is also regarded as the model human being by Muslims, so naturally, all Muslim men should try and imitate his example of "holy" fornication/adultery and keep their women under wraps!! Of course, Mohammad also had sex with a nine year old girl, but he had a special dispensation from Allah for what we today call statutory rape and pedophilia. Strange how it worked out that way, in Allah's eternal and unchanging plan. Even Aisha the child bride thought it was strange how similar Mohammad's thoughts were to Allah's. It's as though Allah also thought with Mohammad's penis ---->
Name: Igor the Infidel
Date: Thursday January 24, 2008
Time: 18:23:38 -0700
Comment
Dr. Farhat-Holzman, I saw the movie, "Charlie Wilson's War," and remember thinking of the law of unintended consequences. Brezhnev's Navy wanted a warm water port, and Wilson saw a chance to humiliate "The Evil Empire" for the greater glory of.....Allah? I wonder what Wilson thinks now about his success in arming the Pashtuns with Stingers?...I expect that the Soviets would have lost Afghanistan eventually had Wilson not meddled, and the Taliban would seize the reigns. 9/11 may have been delayed, but not prevented, is my thinking. In any case, thank God that the Taliban are no longer in power, but please do pray fervently for Afghanistan because the DISEASE known as Islam remains.
Name: DEAR PIG JEW FOLLOWER PIG MUSLIM
Date: Thursday January 24, 2008
Time: 23:52:19 -0700
Comment
ABRAHAM WAS A PIG JEW AND U R HIS PROGENY AS PER KORAN SO U R ALSO A PIG [ KORAN SAYS JEWS R PIGS ].IF A WOMAN WANTS TO RUN AROUND NAKED OR WITH CLOTHES ITS HER WISH AND THE FAULT LIES WITH THE MAN'S BRAIN WHO THINKS ITS NOT OK,BCOZ MAN IS EVOLED FROM 1 CELLED ORGANISMS AND NOT CREATED BY FAKE NON EXISTANT ALLAH,SO WHEN MAN WAS EVOLVING IN AFRICA AND MOVED OUT HE HAS NO CLOTHES SO TO SPEAK,WHY YR FAKE IMAGINARY ALLAH DID NOT GIVE CLOTHES TO THEM ? BCOZ ALLAH DOES NOT EXIST,BESIDE THIS BEAUTY LIES IN THE EYE OF A BEHOLDER,I LIKE NAKED WOMAN BCOZ I AM HETROSEXUAL MAN,U HATE WOMAN BCOZ LIKE YR PIG JEW AND PIG MUSLIMS U R A CLOSET HOMOSEXUAL.NOTHING WRONG WITH U BEING HOMOSEXUAL,JUST PLS DONT PUT YR PERVEDT STANDARDS ON US NORMAL HETROSEXUAL PEOPLE.FREEDOM IS THE GREATEST GIFT MOTHER NATURE [ NOT IMAGINARY ALLAH ] GAVE TO US AND WE MUST USE IT AS PER OUR CHOICE,NOT RELY ON 7TH CENTURY STONE AGE BOOK NOT WRITTEN BY-ALLAH-GABRIEL-MUHAMED,BUT CREATED BY PEOPEL AFTER MUHAMED DIED.
Name: ahmad
Date: Saturday January 26, 2008
Time: 07:26:53 -0700
Comment
sounds like culture and habit, not islam. we are islam majority here but never treat women badly. if separated we send them respecfully.
Name: mean Gene
Date: Saturday January 26, 2008
Time: 10:58:32 -0700
Comment
Bizarro's cartoon is based on a real photo. I know, I had seen it and laughed, then cried myself.
Name: allat
Date: Saturday January 26, 2008
Time: 14:04:12 -0700
Comment
As an aside to vbv: " All this when they don't mind muslim women trapped and tortured in the world's oldest profession of prostitution,including 'courtesan' nautch-girls called 'Tawaif'"----------------------- It occurs to me, as I've watched Indian costume drama, those romances where poor women are sold and trained as dancers. And this was during the time of the control of muslims in India. NOw as I heard, all of these dances were sacred, but demoted by the moslems, and henceforth, considered even by Hindus - "profane" only to be seen in brothels. And the women who were such wonderful dancers - wore bells on their ankles. From the movies I've seen, these bells were a sign of prostitutes, and a disgrace. Being called "nautch" girls - even by the Brits.-------------------- However, all these women dancers kept the High Art of the Sacred Dances, alive, and passed it on to the present generation of dancers, NOW it's called Classical Dance. That the present dance styles from the North to the SOuth of India, and in particular, the most beautious Bharatanatyam.--------------- WOW! GIve thanks to the "Nautch" girls!----------------------- Polytheist Amazon
Name: Allat
Date: Saturday January 26, 2008
Time: 14:42:40 -0700
Comment
Sorry! The Latin term was: NON TACETE! "I'll NOT be Silent! http://worldcat.org/wcpa/ow/822c7e6e3be2a687a19afeb4da09e526.html
Name: Walter Sieruk
Date: Thursday February 14, 2008
Time: 12:34:39 -0700
Comment
IN the Bible in Ezekiel ch.28 God prophesies against the king of Tyre. The king is used as a symbol for the personage of Satan. The inspirer of all the worlds false religions is Satan. One of which is the religion of Islam. The violence of Islam can be seem in the character of Satan. For verse 16 in chapter 28 reads "Through your widespread trade you were filled with violence,and you sinned." [NIV]
Name: vipul
Date: Monday April 28, 2008
Time: 08:52:58 -0700
Comment
really they are not human, they are more than any wild animal.