{"id":495,"date":"2025-05-23T13:58:38","date_gmt":"2025-05-23T12:58:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/jusmedia.co.uk\/scarletthreads\/?p=495"},"modified":"2025-06-04T16:22:09","modified_gmt":"2025-06-04T15:22:09","slug":"why-what-is-happening-to-women-in-afghanistan-is-like-the-handmaids-tale-but-worse","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jusmedia.co.uk\/scarletthreads\/2025\/05\/23\/why-what-is-happening-to-women-in-afghanistan-is-like-the-handmaids-tale-but-worse\/","title":{"rendered":"OPINION: What is happening to women in Afghanistan is like The Handmaid\u2019s Tale but worse"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The reality of morals in what is happening is often lost amongst political debate and religious differences. The Handmaid\u2019s Tale shocks audiences due to its polarization of familiar culture in a Western setting, but that aside, the rules for women under Taliban rule in Afghanistan<\/a> are gravely parallel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Women in Afghanistan in the 1970s – Sourced from WordPress creative commons.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Seen (barely) and not heard<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The first notable similarity between Atwood\u2019s tale and the harrowing reality for Afghan women is the decay of their mere presence in society. However, a haunting notion is that even the handmaid\u2019s have more freedom under Gilead\u2019s rule. While women must not engage in \u2018male talk\u2019, under the Taliban, women\u2019s voices must not be heard in public at all, and if a woman is heard singing even within her own home, she will be punished for violating the law. But that isn\u2019t everything\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the fictional sphere, women wear uniforms based on societal status and reproductive ability. However, despite the handmaid\u2019s wearing white face coverings, their faces can still be seen, which can\u2019t be said about the reality for Afghan women. Under the Taliban, women must be entirely covered, including their faces, and they are forbidden to look at any man who isn\u2019t their husband or a relative. These regulations serve solely to diminish women\u2019s presence as beings, unlike the women in Gilead, who, despite horrific treatment, have some role or purpose within society.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Much like the imagined sphere, Afghan women are expected to adhere to the religious standards set for them, heterosexuality is forced, and they are subject to multiple forms of gender based violence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

No education<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The withering of women\u2019s liberty in their homeland does not diminish their existence, though the Taliban have tried. For the second time in history, women in Afghanistan are banned from attending schools and learning to read and write. This cruel act has a trickle-down effect, as women are no longer allowed to train to work, including in roles such as midwifery<\/a>, a job the men are barred from doing, leaving Afghan women and girls unable to access medical care. This is a step further than Atwood’s dystopia, which forbids (most) women from reading and writing. However, certain women, such as the Aunts, do have access to some education, and women\u2019s health during pregnancy and birth is protected and cherished.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A lack of freedom<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In both the invented Gilead and the extremist Islamic state\u2019s treatment of women is barbaric, but the rules for women under the Taliban are truly astonishing. As actress Meryl Streep <\/a>pointed out in a statement back in September 2024, an Afghan woman has fewer rights in their country than a cat or squirrel, as the feline creatures can sit outside with their faces in the sun and the tree-dwelling rodent can enter public parks, while women cannot. The reduction of women to less than animals goes beyond the acts of any fictional regime, so where is the outrage?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The difference between the two<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A substantial difference between Afghanistan’s rule and Gilead is the aid from neighboring countries. In The Handmaid\u2019s Tale, the women who escape Gilead to Canada are welcomed with open arms and given support to find other family members who may have escaped. Although in recent episodes, the Canadian citizens aren’t necessarily warm, they certainly aren’t sending them back to the nightmare of Gilead and while, of course, it is much easier to manage population when it\u2019s fictional, to contrast, up to three million Afghans<\/a> are faced with the threat of deportation from the neighboring country of Pakistan, in which they have sought refuge.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What now?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With calls for an investigation into gender persecution as a crime against humanity, the Taliban continue to affirm that their treatment of women is according to their interpretation of Islamic law, making it difficult to call out the cruelty. It is undeniable that the horrors for women and girls in Afghanistan feel like a nightmareish fiction, but if novels like The Handmaid\u2019s Tale are a warning, then what happens when that warning doesn\u2019t work\u2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Margaret Atwood\u2019s dystopian novel The Handmaid\u2019s Tale is set in the fictional Republic of Gilead, a dictatorial government in the USA. While Atwood\u2019s work is often lauded for its stark warning against authoritarianism and the erosion of women\u2019s rights, the reality unfolding in Afghanistan today surpasses fiction in its severity. For some, it feels less like a prediction of the future and more like a grim reflection of the present.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":127,"featured_media":1375,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[39,32],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-495","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-amy-rawlings","category-women-centric-politics"],"yoast_head":"\nOPINION: What is happening to women in Afghanistan is like The Handmaid\u2019s Tale but worse - Scarlet Threads<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Margaret Atwood\u2019s dystopian novel The Handmaid\u2019s Tale is set in the fictional Republic of Gilead, a dictatorial government in the USA. 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