In a conservative, Islamic nation like Afghanistan, it is beautiful to see the progress women have made in such a short time period. Since the end of its Taliban regime in 2001, women have gained greater access to education, employment opportunities, and most importantly political power. With Afghan laws now reserving quotas for female seats in the country’s parliament and provincial councils, political participation by women has soared in just twelve short years, with roughly 40% of the votes in the past two elections cast by women.
This Saturday, the nation will choose a new president, one of whose running mate is a woman and another whose wife has taken an active role in campaigning with him. Furthermore, all three presidential candidates have vowed to uphold women’s rights as part of their platforms. This is truly amazing when you realize that a little over a decade ago women were not even allowed to work outside of the home in Afghanistan, and now they are full, participating members of their nation’s democracy.
Of course, the country still has a long way to go before its women truly have equal rights. In more rural areas, many women are still banned from leaving the home without a male companion. Furthermore, women are still largely outnumbered in Afghanistan’s political process, not that this is any different in most other countries.
With the political climate the way it is, it will also be interesting to see whether the nation will not only be able to maintain its stability, but whether its leaders will actually be able to maintain democratic power. Going along with this will be whether or not the nation will be able to maintain the strides it has made in securing more rights for its women.
However, now that these ladies know what it’s like to live in a world with rights, there is no chance that they will give them up without a fight.
Girls, Who Run the World? 
While there is no doubt that certain positive steps have been taken to secure women’s rights in Afghanistan I have little faith they will progress much further or even last. As your article eluded to Afghani women in the rural areas are still forced to adhere to strict rules. My time in the Helmand province, in southern Afghanistan, was eye opening to how women there are treated. Although I would like to believe that the United States mission, of eliminating the insurgents and constructing a functioning democratic country, will succeed, I highly doubt it. If there is not status of forces agreement reached between the U.S. and Afghanistan, and all U.S troops pull out, women’s rights will be one of the first things to crumble away. Although it is possible that women in the urban areas will still be able to go to school, vote, or even run for office the likelihood of those same rights extending to any rural areas, or even much of souther Afghanistan, is remote. I honestly hope that I am dead wrong in this prediction, but first hand experience leads me to think otherwise.
I think Ann Friedman said it best when she said that feminism is at its best when it empowers people of all genders to be the best that they can, so I am so happy for the rise in female participation in Afghan politics. However, I’d like to be careful to assume that the US is the sole protector of female rights. It’s important to contextualize feminine rights, because while most Western ideas of feminine empowerment lie in a woman’s right to expose herself and be comfortable in that, Islamic empowerment lies in a woman’s ability to deny her reduction to her looks and objectification. In some ways, a hijab allows you to develop a sense of self that is not tied to your looks. Of course, the US troops help safeguard human rights and I’m not I’m not lumping in the use of a hijab with not having autonomic freedom, and nobody goes into a war trying to hurt innocent people, but I think we should be careful to contextualize our ideal “best case scenario” in terms of the culture that surrounds each of these issues.
I do not follow international politics very much if at all, so this was good news to hear. I hope that this tolerance spreads as much as possible because it so sad to me to even hear about how so many women are forced to live. This week, President Obama spoke about the gender gap in America. Most women here would agree it is an enormous issue, but if we put it in perspective, we are lucky to have the ability to fight for what we want. Yes, this is a right we are guaranteed, so equality shouldn’t be so hard, but where these women are, there is little emphasis on the RIGHTS women have. It seems like the men are granting them some sort of favor by allowing them to go to school. The deserve to go to school, to read, to have their own jobs. I really hope your prediction of expanding rights is true. We all know it will be slow, but if progress is being made, eventually really good things will happen.
That is a great stepping-stone towards a brighter future for Afghani women. These women in Muslim countries are strong, wise and patient. They will go far with their equal rights as soon as the door of opportunities opens up just a little bit. The only thing I’m really worried about is that all these rights and opportunities for women could be just a façade of the system that is trying to look more democratically and free. Emancipation of these women should be spreading around with a speed of a bullet with education, opportunities and support. Afghani women should make sure that their rights are not just on the papers and in politicians talks but are proved in action.