>Chris Doss wrote:
> >>Hmmm, I did not say this. "Harping on the burkas" means obsessing about
> >>particular aspects of Afghan culture that are popularly (presumably)
> >>accepted in Afghanistan, and not being concerned about women being raped
> >>and having acid thrown in their faces (something the Northern Alliance is
>
> >>much more guilty of than the Taliban, if you believe RAWA).
> >>Chris Doss
> >>The Russia Journal
> >
> >fuckmedead. what kind of disconnect makes it possible that you can
>maintain
> >that your concern about acid is somehow not about burkas? acid was thrown
> >in their faces be/c they were unveiled!
>
>Chris is talking about the Northern Alliance, not the Taliban. It was the
>Taliban who required women to wear Burkas, not the NA. Duh!
http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2001/09/22/blowback/?x
this issue of who did it had nothing to do with the discussion anyway. so, thanks for the nitpick. many women from that part of the world often talk about how they want to wear A veil, of which there are many kinds: burka, headscarf, shayla, abaya, etc. the acid attacks in other countries in the region have sometimes to do with not wearing A veil (not THE veil) and other times to do with other kinds of "misbehavior".
women in afghanistan would prefer to have a choice of what kind to wear and that it be a private religious/familial choice, not a government requirement, true. but that is still not the issue: acid attacks were said to occur when women didn't wear A veil.
> >what kind of disconnect makes you
> >believe that those who've written about veils don't care about acid, rape,
>
> >etc.?
>
>A good point. But my impression from reading the mainstream media is that
>there has been a lot of commentary on the treatment of women under the
>Taliban (burkas, no chance to be educated or earn a living), but not so
>much on those of the NA (I assume because the NA are now officially our
>friends). For example, the Oprah show which my mom taped about the fate of
>women in Afghanistan didn't mention the treatment of women under the NA at
>all, or what happened in Kabul from '92 to '96. I don't know if feminists
>have engaged in this one-sideded focus. RAWA certainly hasn't.
is oprah a feminist? is it appropriate to talk about them as if they were feminists.
but one thing i know you do know because i spent a lot of time explaning it on YOUR request: there are many _kinds_ of western feminisms. it is ridiculously inapprorpriate to speak of them as if they represented ALL feminists and indict ALL feminists.
i see that all that work i did to talk about different kinds of western feminisms did a lot of good.
and three cheers for the power of virginia slims feminism.
>On a separate topic:
> >From the YeahSureRightFW Dept:
> >"If young women go for older men and vice-versa, who cares? The problem is
>
> >the asymmetries in wealth and power between individuals which make one
> >person more dependent on/vulnerable to the other, usually the woman.
> >If we could eliminate class, innumerable social problems would be solved
> >virtually overnight."
>
>Whatever, kelley. Thank you for taking this out of context and/or not
>reading my other posts at the time which elaborated my thinking.
>I'd appreciate it if you would stop using this as your sign off.
>
>Brett
kelley
From the YeahSureRightFW Dept: "If young women go for older men and vice-versa, who cares? The problem is the asymmetries in wealth and power between individuals which make one person more dependent on/vulnerable to the other, usually the woman. If we could eliminate class, innumerable social problems would be solved virtually overnight."
--Brett Knowlton