Kabul beauty school

For several centuries, American feminists have criticized the lifestyle of Afghan women. Americans tend to view these women as oppressed and helpless because of the requirements that their religion and culture demand. After viewing the Kabul Beauty School film I was able to better understand some of the reasons why the Afghan women conform to such seemingly stringent customs. Although the Kabul Beauty School film focused mainly on the establishment of a beauty school, it also allowed me to see almost firsthand some the problems that Afghan women face today. Although Afghanistan is working to try and equalize gender, very little success has been achieved. As a result, I believe the reasons why the people of Afghanistan have been unsuccessful in modernizing their lifestyles are deeply rooted within gender inequality.
First, I want to discuss some of the stereotypes associated with Afghan women. Afghan women usually dress extremely conservatively and almost always wear a veil when they are anywhere but their own homes. Americans tend to assume that this is one way that the men oppress the women. However according to the assigned reading, Understanding the Other Sister by Susan Muaddi Darraj, the majority of women are not forced to wear the veil but actually choose to do so because of personal religious beliefs. This example shows that Americans are not properly educated on the practices and conditions of the Afghan people.
Second, Afghan women, compared to American women, do in fact have less freedom. Women have very little say, if any, in whom they marry. They are expected to obey their husbands and men are permitted to exercise drastic forms of punishment upon their wives whenever they see fit. These examples prove that men are viewed as superior to women. Throughout the film, the Afghan women struggled with problems that gender inequality has produced. The simple fact that they are not viewed as equal to men accounts for a large majority of their problems. For example, throughout the film the Afghan women had to remind their American teachers that they were not permitted to do some of the things they asked of them such as wear makeup every day. Some of the women admitted that their husbands did not allow them to wear makeup unless they were attending a special event.

Third, the fact that women are inferior to men is exemplified when a child is born. When a woman reproduces a son there are huge celebrations but if a daughter is produced then the celebrations are much smaller and a lot of the time do not exist. This example clearly shows just how little females are valued within the Afghan culture. From birth, females are unequal to males. Afghan women’s opinions and feelings virtually do not matter. It is extremely common for an Afghan male to have multiple wives. If a man’s wife is unsuccessful in providing him a son, then it is completely acceptable for him to take another wife regardless of how his initial wife feels. If women are actually permitted to voice their feelings and opinions the majority of the time, they are still completely disregarded. The amount of authority that men exert over women causes the women to fear their husbands and ultimately allows the men to continue controlling them.
In conclusion, the Kabul Beauty School allowed a sort of safe haven for the Afghan women. It created a place where they could go and remove their veils without fear of chastisement. The school helped bridge the cultural gap between Afghanistan and America. The film helped me to better understand that even though gender inequality is extremely prevalent, some of the things that American women define as oppression are in actuality, deeply rooted religious and cultural beliefs. A large majority of the problems illustrated in the film are a direct result of gender inequality. I believe that in order for Afghanistan to move forward and modernize their country, the current mindset that women are inferior to men must be discontinued.