The Women of Afghanistan Under the Taliban

Rating:
Summary: Terrible!
Review: For all those women who wants to know how its like living under the taliban gov't,this book is a must have. Here one can find the real situation of women living under the terror of the taliban,this book described the shocking truth of hell and one can never imagine how women in afghanistan were able to survived in this kind of narrow minded taliban gov't. Buy this book before they run out of print.

Rating:
Summary: Supporting our sisters in Afghanistan
Review: In Afghanistan the atrocities being committed against women and children are the most horrifying I have heard. This book first tells about the lives of Afghanistan women before the Jehadi and Taliban took over, explains the difference between Muslim belief and Taliban belief, and dispels common myths associated with Muslim clothing. This book talks both about the politics of the situation, and the acts being perpetrated against women, children and also men. She also includes a chapter of many women speaking about living under the conditions of the Jehadi and the Taliban. The last chapter educates us about the organizations that are working towards a change, and what we can do to help. Another good book about the Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan (RAWA) is, "Veiled Courage: Inside the Afghan Women's Resistance", and "Behind the Burqa: Our Life in Afghanistan and How We Escaped to Freedom" is an excellent and comprehensive book written by two Afghanistan refugees.

Rating:
Summary: The oppression of women in Afghanistan
Review: Skaine, Rosemarie. The Women of Afghanistan Under the Taliban, London: McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers, 2002. x + 148. One map. Index. HQ 1735.6.S39 2002

This book covers a topic of much relevance and attention in the contemporary world: human rights, in particular those of women in Afghanistan. It examines the social and economic conditions faced by Afghani women, and Skaine implements a question and answer structure in order to delineate this. Furthermore, it touches upon the dire necessity for employment reform for women. With current employment restrictions upon women, families are starving, and children are growing up uneducated with a lack of teachers.
The book is extremely useful in that it does not focus solely upon the Taliban as the source for gender inequalities in Afghanistan. Rather it notes the many political motives behind it, as well as cultural and social pressures. Moreover, it succeeds in showing that it is not Islam that renders the oppression of women as justifiable. Instead, it shows the many intertwining forces within Afghani culture and politics that are in fact to blame.
It is for this reason that this book deserves much attention. The American media too often portrays, or simplifies, the oppression of Afghani women into a phenomenon stemming from the Taliban and Islamic fundamentalism. The fact that the chauvinistic mindset pervades, and has existed within, Afghani society is often overlooked. This creates a dangerous situation in which, the elimination of the Taliban may cause the world to assume the issue of female oppression is automatically solved. In addition, Skaine's writing style and structure make the book a clear and easy read.

Shirin Raza