WSJ Article March 2023 - Taliban Leader Faces Blowback Over Girls’ School Ban—From His Own Movement

[UtopiaPlanitia]

A heartbreaking article discussing attempts to evade the Taliban’s ban on the education of girls and women:

Paywalled version - https://www.wsj.com/amp/articles/taliban-girls-school-ban-leader-blowback-secret-education-b1e9ab7f

Archived version - https://archive.is/BCE4T

'George Orwell’s “1984,” and Margaret Atwood’s “The Handmaid’s Tale,” both stories of how a totalitarian state strips away humanity, resonate with their lives in Taliban-run Afghanistan, said the teacher of one online class, Homeira Qadiri. So does Anne Frank’s diary. These books are read in translation, in PDF files passed around.'

A harrowing story. My feminist awakening took place during the prior Taliban rule, so I am familiar with all that is happening. There are differences in this round, compared to that one, though, including the online access by some girls and women there.

When the Taliban came to power the first time I read a lot about what the religious tenets they follow are. It was frightening reading, but it's been helpful for me to know what to expect and why in this round. Also helpful to see the roots of their beliefs (in Wahhabism and Salafism), and how those play out elsewhere and which countries fund them.

From the actions taken since their return to power, it seems to me that the Taliban despise/loathe women. It almost seems that many Taliban would be happier if women didn’t exist and the world was men only - they do so much to make women’s lives miserable, pointless and limited.

It’s terrifying to watch the men in a country systematically ruin the lives of every female citizen and I can’t comprehend the mindset behind this (other than psychopathic levels of misogyny). The only societies that I can think of that also saw women in this manner are Classical Athenian Greece where women were considered not to have personhood or Ancient Rome which was similar.

A friend of mine once stated that what is happening in Afghanistan is so frightening not only because it is happening, but also because it shows what the patriarchy can look like without any contervailing powers.

But I am heartened by seeing the determined women and girls fighting back with the few freedoms they have, though I am disheartened by my own inability to help much.