When women describe Afghanistan as hell, you need to understand that they are not exaggerating. For centuries, women in this country have been harassed, tormented and punished in various ways; deprived of their right to education, removed from all social spheres, punished in extrajudicial tribunals, forced marriages and honour killings, and threatened with physical and psychological violence. Afghan society is defiantly patriarchal, blending together bizarre traditions and widespread sexism to create a true hell. In the hellscapes that populate religions, people are condemned for their sins, but in ours women are punished for their innocence.
The participation of women in Afghanistan has always depended on the decisions of men. If a woman wants to enter and secure her place in society, the first obstacle she faces is the closed door of her home, sealed against her by a male member of her family. If some women manage to open this door, the government has made sure to block any avenue of social growth to them. The only thing left for Afghan women to do is to cry behind the closed doors that bar their access to schools, universities, offices or even entertainment venues.
But the occasional permissiveness and overwhelming constraints actioned by these opening and closing doors does not apply to all Afghan women, only to women in the big cities and to women in those provinces experiencing instability in their social status amid the waves of political change in the country. In rural areas, however, centuries of shifts in the country’s political make-up have had no impact whatsoever on many women’s lives. These rural women are neither exposed to nor benefit from any intermittent loosening of social rules, and their lives often remain stagnant. In the remote areas where those women live, women’s issues are resolved by men who rely on tradition. For them, social growth is a strange concept. I am a Pashtun woman from the southeast of Afghanistan, and I want to write about the women of this region, also from the Pashtun tribe, who are facing immense difficulties.
.....you are actually equating this
I am. Just because it’s done with a suit and tie here in America doesn’t make it any better.
I’m sure you feel that this doesn’t represent America, how about you give Iran that same grace? Americans have a government that doesn’t give a single shit about the wishes of its citizens, I’m sure you can imagine that Iran might be similar.
Does America deserve to be bombed for still having legalized slavery?
Does America deserve to be bombed for still allowing child marriages?
Does America deserve to be bombed for it stripping away women’s rights to bodily autonomy?
Does America deserve to be bombed for the Christians pushing for the Bible to be mandated school material?
Just think for one second.
Why the fuck would you make this about the US? Or Iran?