NOTE: Free essay sample provided on this page should be used for references or sample purposes only. The sample essay is available to anyone, so any direct quoting without mentioning the source will be considered plagiarism by schools, colleges and universities that use plagiarism detection software. To get a completely brand-new, plagiarism-free essay, please use our essay writing service.
One click instant price quote
Logan's photographs reveal the world of these women, from portraits of them at home to the war-torn landscapes of Kabul and its marketplaces newly brimming with beauty products. This stunning journey in text and image will open the readers eyes to the Afghanistan of yesterday, today, and tomorrow. On September 27, 1996, the Taliban, an extremist militia claiming to be Islamic fundamentalists, seized power in a violent takeover of the government. It was at that point that the Taliban government instituted its sexist policy under the guise of religious observance. The Taliban came up with some rules that all women must follow: when in public, women are to be covered from their head all the way down to their feet; in order to go out a woman must be in the presence of her husband, brother, or father at all times; a woman can not work; a woman can not receive an education; if a woman is caught not abiding by these rules she can be beaten or even killed. The Taliban's excuse for these actions is that it is a turbulent time and the women must be kept safe.
However, that is not case. Organizations like Creating Hope International have gone as far as smuggling books into Afghanistan just so they can teach women illegally in the homes of some volunteers. If the Taliban is saying that they want to keep the women safe, why cannot the women learn how to read and write in their own homes? Recently, Creating Hope International reported the closing of one of their illegal schools in Afghanistan by the Taliban.
Prior to the Taliban's arrival the women of Afghanistan made up 60 percent of the teachers at Kabul University, 50 percent of the students at Kabul University, 50 percent of the government workforce, 70 percent of the school teachers, and 40 percent of the doctors. It seems almost impossible to imagine that once upon a time the women from Afghanistan were going to college and had bright futures ahead of them, and all of a sudden they are subject to conditions where a woman cannot even walk outside without a male relative by her side. However, that is exactly what happens when a government does not govern, but threatens its people who not abide by its rules. And the saddest thing of all is that the Taliban is claiming to be working in the name of Allah (God), the one person that everyone calls on when they feel there is no way out of a tough situation. For the past five years, women were viewed not just as submissive, but were made to be invisible. Taliban Rules were placed upon everyone, but especially upon women who were forbidden from speaking or laughing loudly; riding bicycles or motorcycles, showing their ankles, wearing shows that click or make up, leaving home unaccompanied by a close male relative, attending school, speaking to men who are not close relatives, working; with the exception of a few doctors and nurses.
Rules such as those listed fulfilled their purpose of making women seem invisible to Afghanistan. On top of everything else women were not allowed to be seen in general. When in public women had to wear a heavy burka, which covered women from head to toe leaving only holes where the head is located for easier breathing and seeing. Women literally looked like ghosts, once again reinforcing the concept of making women invisible. Women were not allowed to attend school, not allowed to read or become educated.
Their only function was to serve their husbands or males in their lives. Life for these women, in the past five years, must have been hard. I personally cannot imagine living under such conditions and would revolt if such rules were brought down upon women in the United States. After reading much about this oppression in magazines and on the internet I thought to myself, Yeah, this type of treatment sucks, but what do I care it isnt affecting me. It could never affect me because I live in the United States where things like this do not happen. Or do they?
Are women in the United States made to be submissive? Are we in the same position as the Muslim women of Afghanistan are in? All these questions raced through my head after hearing most of the presentations in class by the other groups. I could not help thinking that there really was not a big difference between the women living in Afghanistan and those living in the United States. I personally believe that, like the women of Afghanistan, women in the United States and all over the world, for that matter, are to some similar extent made submissive and invisible just like the women of Afghanistan. No, there are not any specific rules written down, unlike the Taliban Rules, but we as women are still being held back by the understood rules of society.
These unwritten rules tell us how to act, what to wear, where to go and not to go as well as what to be. It is these rules that hold us back from being equals to men and from being seen as people instead of women.
Free research essays on topics related to: women were not allowed, afghanistan, 50 percent, past five years, male relative
Research essay sample on Past Five Years Women Were Not Allowed
