Afghan Women are More Complex Than You Think
Though not an unfamiliar sight by any means to many Afghans in the diaspora, images like the one CNN correspondent, Atia Abawi uploaded to her Twitpic account are important for the West to see.
In order for the West to dispel the notions of a ‘fierce reputation‘ and thoughts of burqa shrouded ghosts when they think of Afghanistan, such images need to be brought to the public’s attention.
If the West has a sense of the progress and development that Afghan cities experienced during its purported ‘Golden Age‘ they would see that Afghans are more than uncivilized, ungovernable, warring, tribal people and that progress does have at least some historical precedent in a nation often depicted as perpetually at war with each other.
Women were a vital part of the economy in Kabul. They worked as lawyers, physicians, college professors, etc., which makes the tragedy of how they were treated by the Taliban that much more painful.
-Khaled Hosseini
Afghan women in the 1940s. Hard to believe it‘s the same country of today. [Twitter]