Women in Afghanistan

Women In Afghanistan

Afghanistan women have struggled with discrimination and segregation because of the role that has been defined for them by Afghan society. This is shown throughout Khaled Hosseini’s book, The Kite Runner which is set in Afghanistan during the end of the 20th century. Throughout the book, Afghanistan’s long term monarch is overthrown and the country is invaded by the Soviets, and they were later taken over by the Islamic militant group, the Taliban. When the Taliban takes control there is chaos everywhere. All of these events affect the treatment of women in this book. The discrimination and segregation is shown in The Kite Runner by the female characters being portrayed as weak and dependent on men, the fact that the book is dominated by male characters with very few female roles, and the evidence of obvious gender inequalities in the book.

Throughout The Kite Runner, women are shown as being weak and dependent on men. The Islamic influence in Afghanistan puts women below men. Women are not equal to men in this society and have to follow very strict rules. In The Kite Runner, women are shown as people who rely on the need to get married to a men to have more strength and power in the society. This is shown when Amir said, “Every woman needed a husband. Even if he did silence the song in her….” (Hosseini, 187). Women’s weakness and dependence is also shown when Hassan refers to his wife and says, “She was a shy woman, so courteous she spoke in a voice barely higher than a whisper and she would not raise her pretty hazel eyes to meet my gaze….” (Hosseini, 217) and “But the way she was looking at Hassan, he might as well have been sitting on a throne at the Arg….” (Hosseini, 217). These quotes show how women are placed below men in Afghanistan and lack the strength to speak up for themselves and be strong. Afghan women not allowed the right to speak out in public, make eye contact with men, wear makeup or have the same jobs as me. They are viewed as weak and unimportant in this male dominated society and this perpetuates discrimination against them.

The discrimination and segregation of women is also shown in The Kite Runner because the novel is dominated by male characters with few significant female characters in the book. There are really only two female characters that have any significance to this story. These characters are Soraya, Amir’s wife, and Khala Jamila, Soraya’s mother. The other females are unimportant and hardly seen in this book. By having limited female characters, this shows how much women are overlooked and are not valued in Afghan society. They are mostly seen as sex objects to men. The quote, “I knew your mother, did you know that? I knew her real good. I took her from behind by the creek over there” (Hosseini, 8) shows this. Due to the lack of women’s rights, women are rarely mentioned unless they are related to a powerful man such as Soraya, her mother, and Amir’s mother. The quote, “I had relieved her of the greatest fear of every Afghan mother; that no honourable Khastegar would ask for her daughter’s hand. That her daughter would age alone, husbandless, childless. Every women needed a husband. Even if he did silene the song in her” (Hosseini, 136) shows the plight of women in this book. Even though The Kite Runner is dominated by male characters, the few female characters are able to make an important