Sima Wali - Although women have made major strides towards equality in the 21st century, we also see a lingering tendency in the West to restrain these advances around the world. Let's turn to history for a moment.
Although women have made major strides towards equality in the 21st century, we also see a lingering tendency in the West to restrain these advances around the world. Let's turn to history for a moment.
Often dismissed as an anomaly, Afghan civil society blossomed under King Amanullah from 1919 to 1929. Declaring his independence from Britain in his inaugural address, Amanullah's sought to abolish slavery, discourage the veil, empower women, and introduce secular education for girls. Afghanis generally accepted these reforms as in keeping with Islamic law.
But Britain's colonial gatekeepers opposed a secular, democratic Afghanistan. They, in the words of former U.S. Ambassador Leon Poullada, "saw a modernizing of Afghanistan as a threat to British rule in India since it offered an example of the kind of progress free Asians could achieve..."
Afghanistan is still viewed through a colonial lens. Despite real changes that have occurred during the last two centuries, the Victorian mentality -- immortalized by story-tellers like Rudyard Kipling -- obscures the many ways Afghanistan citizens strive for modernity.
During the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan, America's journalists reconstituted the old British myths of "fierce tribal Afghan warriors," and today this faux mythologizing is reaching new heights, burying the real yearnings of Afghanistan's people. The movie Charlie Wilson's War now being filmed in Morocco may well further engrain these powerful misconceptions in the psyche of Americans and the world.
Governments and civil society must work to overcome such false image making. We must demand a genuine, honest 21st century mythology from our storytellers. We must stretch our imaginations and construct images of a future that we can all live within. We must appreciate that most of Afghanistan's men and women yearn for modernity, not tribal war.
Sima Wali is the President of Refugee Women in Development (RefWID). She lives between Afghanistan and the U.S.
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Comments (14)
Good site! I'll stay reading! Keep improving!
November 10, 2007 9:35 AM | Report Offensive Comment
Posted on November 10, 2007 09:35
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July 31, 2007 7:33 PM | Report Offensive Comment
Posted on July 31, 2007 19:33
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July 31, 2007 7:32 PM | Report Offensive Comment
Posted on July 31, 2007 19:32
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July 31, 2007 7:30 PM | Report Offensive Comment
Posted on July 31, 2007 19:30
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July 31, 2007 7:29 PM | Report Offensive Comment
Posted on July 31, 2007 19:29
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July 31, 2007 7:27 PM | Report Offensive Comment
Posted on July 31, 2007 19:27
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July 31, 2007 7:26 PM | Report Offensive Comment
Posted on July 31, 2007 19:26
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March 2, 2007 7:30 AM | Report Offensive Comment
Posted on March 2, 2007 07:30
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March 2, 2007 7:30 AM | Report Offensive Comment
Posted on March 2, 2007 07:30
Thanks for the reminder, but Afghanistan is incredible poor and most barbaric rites come out of this, nobody can change it easyly, a simple matter of fact. All you can do is to change the conditions for a very small minority
December 22, 2006 9:50 AM | Report Offensive Comment
Posted on December 22, 2006 09:50
Agree with Sima Wali.
December 21, 2006 10:34 PM | Report Offensive Comment
Posted on December 21, 2006 22:34
Actually, science has yet to discover anything, except shopping, that ever quiets women anywhere in the world.
December 21, 2006 12:48 AM | Report Offensive Comment
Posted on December 21, 2006 00:48
Contrary to the view expressed by the author, men are just playing catch-up with women here in the West. What else could possibly explain the increase in numbers of men getting breast implants, except that they are trying to keep abreast of women.
December 21, 2006 12:45 AM | Report Offensive Comment
Posted on December 21, 2006 00:45
Karma, thanks for pointing out this excellent article, again ignored as was the post on Syrian women ....you're right, the +image doesn't fit with their projections which is why it is not acknowledged. But we know, he!he!
December 20, 2006 6:19 PM | Report Offensive Comment
Posted on December 20, 2006 18:19