1970's Afghanistan example essay topic

For many women all over the world discrimination is a serious problem. The US has shown some progress when it comes to this issue by allowing women to file lawsuits against discrimination. Although the US has shown some improvement, that is not the case in all countries, especially in Afghanistan. For the women of Afghanistan being discriminated against is a way of life. Women are seen as second-class citizens under the rule of men and these men are the cause virtually all of the problems that the women of this country face today. It would probably be best to start of with a little history of Afghanistan so that way the events that lead up to the Taliban taking over are better understood.

Up until the 1970's Afghanistan was anarchy, the king at the time was Zahir Shah. In 1973, while in Italy Shah was overthrow by a relative, it was at that time that the mujahedin (holy warriors) were in their birthing process (Encyclopedia Americana). In 1978, Communism was attempted to be important into Afghanistan with Soviet Union aid. However, in 1979, Ka brak Karma who was the president at the time asked for Soviet Union assistance for some matters in Afghanistan. That was all U.S.S.R. needed to hear; they came in as soon as possible and started running the country, but not with a fight of course (Fielding Worldwide Inc. ).

As we are all aware of that time period was also when the Cold War was going on between the U.S. and the Soviet Union. Therefore, the U. S gladly flooded Afghanistan with money in order to fight off the Soviet Union. The bloodshed between the Afghans and the Soviets lasted for years. Finally in 1988 an agreement to end the strife was finally signed by the U.S., Afghanistan, U.S.S. R, and Pakistan. However, it was signed on the condition that the Soviets would leave Afghanistan. In 1989, the Soviet Union withdrew from the country they had invaded.

In addition, those actions are what lead up to the events we have today in Afghanistan (Fielding Worldwide Inc. ). Afghanistan is a poor, struggling and slowly developing country. People there try to make ends meet and survive to the best of their ability. In rural areas people do not care about rights, especially those of women, because they instead are too worried about not being able to feed their children. In the large cities, such as Kabul, awareness of the oppression of women is increased, but the forces behind eliminating the oppression of women are limited.

The Taliban took over power and sought to make women not just obedient, but nonexistent and it succeeded. In 1997, during the Taliban's repressive rule, award-winning photographer Harriet Logan went to Afghanistan and encountered a group of extraordinary women whose strong characters and dreams for the future made an indelible impression on her. Despite the peril to her life and theirs, she captured their lives in a series of striking photographs. The women risked their safety by speaking to and being photographed by her because they felt that the outside world needed to know what was happening to them. The images of women from 1997 contrast sharply with those from the 1970's, when they were free to dress as they wished, speak up for their rights, and pursue their educations alongside men.

After the Taliban defeat at the end of 2001, Logan returned to Afghanistan, where she found many of these women again and met others. These courageous and intelligent women shared with her stories of unimaginable sadness and abiding strength through the long years of war and uncertainty. Zargoona, a widow, reveals that she could not afford to treat her cancer because Taliban law prevented women from earning a living. Naked, a schoolteacher, has vowed never to marry because even her own brothers beat her, Durkhanai, the daughter of a famous television anchorwoman, tells how she experienced the joys of family life and the pain of lost freedom all at once: "We were like birds in a cage. For me, maybe my cage was good -- my home was full of happiness. We love each other here and we are not hungry.

But outside it was terrible". Nine-year-old Sanam rejoices that she can carry her doll without being beaten for idolatry. Latif a lost her foot when she stepped on a mine and subsequently left her house only four times during Taliban rule. She begs of women across the world: Please help us Afghan women. We have just come out of a dark period into the sunshine. Learn from us so that what we have suffered will never happen again.