ISSUES OF AFGHAN WOMEN’S EMANCIPATION AND CULTURAL OPPOSITION: A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF A THOUSAND SPLENDID SUNS AND US MASS MEDIA

Abstract

Although patriarchy and its impact on women in Afghanistan are centuries old phenomena, these issues became the talk of the town in both literary and non-literary works worldwide ever since the US attacked the country after 9/11. In this regard, the current study aimed at exploring Afghan women’s emancipation and cultural opposition in patriarchal Afghanistan especially during the Taliban regime. For this purpose, I conducted a qualitative content analysis of the issues concerning women rights in Afghanistan as depicted in Khaled Hosseini’s novel A Thousand Splendid Suns and these issues were subsequently covered in the US mass media. The findings revealed Hosseini’s portrayal of Afghan women as a second-class citizens in the novel where they were subjected to gender discrimination—inferior social status, restricted social lives, gender inequalities and prejudices. The novelist concluded that education could only allow Afghan women to resist against any form of oppression and to ensure their basic rights and emancipation. Similarly, the US mass media portrayed Afghan women as apathetic victims of conflict and brutality. The study is significant as it not only highlights one of the pressing issues—violation of basic human rights—of the developing world, but also educates the readers particularly women how they could empower themselves through education