Kakki said: >I hope you will read up on the situation of the women in Afghanistan - you >don't have to see the documentaries. It is horrific beyond all imagination >what they are, and have been, subjected to under the Taliban. Much >information has been out there for a number of years now - this didn't just >start as an issue yesterday to somehow discredit the Taliban. They have no >good days.
Oh, I totally do not doubt that the situation for women under the Taliban is horrible. I am aware of that. That wasn't what I meant. But I disagree with the statement "They have no good days." And where I am coming from is the following: For years I was impassioned by the whole Reviving Ophelia, girls-lose-their-self-esteem-when-they-get-to-middle-school stuff. I really really cared about all the girls who were such victims of unjust society, unequal treatment at school, eating disorders, depression, etc. I still care about middle school girls. A lot. And I agree that they face an unjust world. I don't mean to be flippant about them. But I have shifted my stance. While it is important to recognize that people are caught in unfortunate and unjust circumstances *that*are*not*their*fault* (ie: poverty, racism, sexism etc are systemic problems that need to be addressed at a systemic level; abuse and neglect are also important problems that aren't their fault), I also think it is vitally important that we recognize young people as active, thoughtful agents in creating their own worlds. Young people can create community change. Young people are not all either victims or perpetrators. Young people are not druggies, video-game-watching-bloodthirsty-killers, irresponsible teen moms, loiterers. They are not dangerous. Definitely not any more than adults. In fact, all of these things (crime, drugs, pregnancy out of wedlock, all the things typically touted as youth "problems") are things done way more by adults than youth. They might be things we choose to define as societal problems (or not), but they aren't really youth problems. I sort of veered off topic there. What I meant was, young people, despite the fact that they live under severe restrictions (a lot of towns have curfews, many malls don't allow youth to be together without adults, etc), have their lives highly scheduled, etc, can have good days. Even poor children living in squalor can have good days and actively engage with community. They have hopes for the future. They have fears but they also have ideas, and some of those ideas they can act on, even despite their circumstances. I'm not saying that we ignore the structural and community problems (poverty, abuse, etc) - definitely not! Those are things that we need to work on, and work on passionately. I'm just saying that when we define youth only in terms of their victimhood, everyone loses out. We lose out on what they have to offer. I don't want to deny that to Afghani women. I don't like the way they are forced to live. I think it is horrid. They definitely are victims of their unjust society, in a serious way. But they are also active agents in their worlds and day-to-day lives. I'm sure they have their good days. And actually, the fact that there is a group of Afghani women organized to create change, publicizing their plight to the outside world, etc, makes my point. The fact that an Afghani woman created a documentary makes my point too. Their situation needs to change. But I do not think we need to strip them of their humanity and their agency to make that point. That's all I meant by that. :-) hugs, Yael, getting all impassioned and also late for work.
