My main interest in learning of Irani and Afghan culture was that of gender roles as we see the disparities women in these countries face. Before I had the chance to learn anything about countries like Afghanistan and Iran I had always assumed that life for women was like what I saw on television: no freedom of expression or self. I had assumed that the extremists of their countries were limiting them to their homes. After speaking with my language partner and even watching media from Afghanistan I learned that there is a lot of similarity to an Afghan woman's life similar to that of an American women and I had been too blinded by stereotypes on television to notice this.
Susan, my language partner, described to me what a normal day for her was like in her home in Afghanistan when she was in high school. She would go to school in the morning separate from the boys at that age, however, they basically were taught the same coursework. After school is where there were differences as there were many activities available for the boys and none for the girls. Girls often returned home after school having nothing else to do. Susan said that occasionally she would have friends visit her home but her mother never wanted her to visit others homes to be bothersome (very similar to my own mother). One activity Susan discussed was going out with her parents to shop or see a movie. Other than that another activity Susan partook in was household chores shared between herself and her sister. As she became older it was expected of Susan and her sister to take on the household work for their mother.
Although, I do see gender roles demanding that women be the one to take care of household work instead of men I also noted that Modern day Afghanistan is in some ways very similar to the Western world. Afghanistan has changed in recent years to include women in many more activities and give them equal access to more of the world that they were denied in more traditional times. I found it surprising to hear of daily schedules not so different from mine when I was in high school, especially in what I thought was an area strictly divided between sexes.
Comments