Fawzia Koofi, an Afghani mother and victim of Taliban abuse, is currently seeking to become the president of Afghanistan. Afghanistan is largely male-dominated. From a contemporary feminist perspective, the term "androcentric" often used to depict certain aspects of U.S. society is fully realized in the case of both a feminist oppression model and a literal oppression model. Fawzia Koofi serves as an excellent case study for assessing Afghani feminism.
Many Islamic countries are often recognized for the drastic cultural and social separation between men and women. This is the case in Afghanistan. By her own accounts, the best that an Afghan woman used to be able to expect was to marry off into another family and become a part of her husband's life. However, Fawzia Koofi describes a generational transformation taking place in Afghanistan, specifically relating to education. When she was a young girl, education was extremely far out of her reach. She considers herself lucky to have been able to get a good education. Now, however, when talking about her children's opportunities, she says that because of certain social progress, her children will not have to worry about not receiving an education. The universality of this transition in Afghanistan is hard to predict, but it can certainly be said that Fawzia Koofi is intent on ensuring that it and many other desired advancements become a reality in the near future.
Education and the societal role of women serve as a good focus for feminist oppression theory. However, women's oppression issues stem far beyond what some might call an "American" model. Part of the Taliban's mission in Afghanistan is the very physical and literal oppression of women. This is accomplished through instigating panic in small communities and beating women in the streets. Fawzia Koofi describes the impact of this oppression is having on Afghani culture. She describes witnessing a husband denying a woman to be his wife simply to protect himself from the punishment she was in the process of receiving. Thus, the literal and physical oppression of Afghani women can be viewed as a societal and cultural disruptor.
Fawzia Koofi argues that it is absolutely necessary for Afghanistan to remain a center of focus for the global community. She imagines a time when Afghanistan is recognized and depended upon for its cultural contributions, rather than just its current role as a terrorism theatre. To satisfy this goal, the conversation surrounding Afghanistan needs to shift from one exclusively characterizing it as a war theatre to one that focuses on the sociocultural issues as well. This can be accomplished through women's rights advocacy, the potential result of which would be to stem the severe androcentrism, promote social and cultural development, and lessen the Taliban's ability to terrorize local communities and inhibit national development.
Her website: http://www.fawziakoofi.org/
Interview on The Daily Show (expires after 3-4 weeks - highly recommended): http://www.thedailyshow.com/full-episodes/wed-february-13-2013-fawzia-koofi
I'll admit that this isn't my best piece in terms of analysis. I know very little about Afghanistan (far less than I have a responsibility to know), and as a result was intimately fascinated with Fawzia Koofi's story. The extent to which women's rights advocacy in Afghanistan can bring about radical change on a national level is a question that I consider to be worth pursuing.
ReplyDeleteWow, this is an incredible shift for Afghanistan. Props to Koofi for going out to achieve this and be able represent the perspective of women in this country. 20, maybe even as few as 10 years ago, this would’ve been a dangerous action for her to take, and one considerably out of her reach. I have an English professor who was discussing the oppression of women in the Middle East vs. the United States, in respect to a book we were reading about a woman in the 1970s in Egypt who was raped more times than I can count. However, this professor said that he thought that the outright statement of “you have no freedom” was better than the “illusion of freedom” that he feels we have here in the US.
ReplyDeleteThis is an amazing story and something definitely worth reading. As we will be learning about next week in our text book, there are these incidents of gender violence all across the world. There is this power struggle to keep women in their place. I can't even imagine being in a country where anything you say or do can be taken into any context. They can say and do anything they want to you. This woman is incredibly brave and we need more women like her everywhere. She is hoping to help break that cycle of oppression and that is beyond wonderful. We need good role models like her who will try to help break the cycle of oppression. We have a cycle of oppression in the U.S. That cannot be denied, but no matter how bad here it is ten times worse in some countries. This doesn't mean that we shouldn't advocate. What it means is that we should realize that if she can stand up for women's rights in the conditions she is in, then we can do it here.
ReplyDelete-Rachael Belcher