July 10, 2023

"The Taliban says that women’s lives have improved under its two-year rule."

"Supreme leader Haibatullah Akhundzada issued a ban on forced marriages shortly after taking power, and he vowed in a recent audio message that he wants women to live 'comfortable' lives. But many women tell a different story. A 29-year-old participating in an art workshop for girls and young women in Kabul said she is afraid of the moments when her fellow students say they are starting to feel better. 'These days, it actually just means they have given up hoping for a better life,' said the woman, who like others interviewed spoke on the condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals."

Is it a different story or is it the same story? What is a "comfortable life"? Is it not accepting the reality where you find yourself and feeling good about whatever it is you happen to have? Is hope comfortable?

30 comments:

Michael K said...

Life in the Harem can be comfortable which is why Biden took a powder and left all that military stuff behide.

tim maguire said...

The Buddhists say hope (desire, actually, but hope is a close enough companion) is the source of all unhappiness. If you can't change your surroundings, then it's folly to not accept them.

So the Taliban might be correct--women's lives have improved as they have lost hope of improvement.

hombre said...

Are they taking lessons from QuidProJoe or Baghdad Bob?

rcocean said...

How sad. They were so happy when we were dropping bombs on Afghanistan and killing people. Oh for the good ol'days!

This is what happens when you choose peace over gender studies.

cassandra lite said...

Lest we not forget that the last item added to Pandora's Box was hope.

WWIII Joe Biden, Husk-Puppet + America's Putin said...

Oh please. The left will now call this crisis in Afghanistan - "Q-anon!"
(The left do not care at all about women and children)

**Worship Crook Biden and all leftist narratives!

gilbar said...

meanwhile, back in the states..
The Department of Justice erased content from its webpage on child sex trafficking that highlighted the plight of “international sex trafficking of minors” in late May.
The Department of Justice’s (DOJ) webpage chronicling what constitutes child sex trafficking and how the department is combatting it underwent severe revisions on May 12th, 2023, including the erasure of the three sections: “International Sex Trafficking of Minors”; “Domestic Sex Trafficking of Minors,” and “Child Victims of Prostitution.”

You can See Why, LLRs here now TOTALLY support the Biden Admin, and PRAISE their work..
Right Chuck?

Big Mike said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
gspencer said...

"and he vowed in a recent audio message that he wants women to live 'comfortable' lives"

I understand the what and the why he says that. And it fits if you understand Islam which our "leaders" refuse to do.

If women are treated exactly as laid out in their Qur'an and in the manner of their Mohammed, who is considered by their Allah to be a "perfect example, they (the woman) will be happy and will live comfortable lives. As their holy book repeatedly states, "Allah is wise and all knowing."

Know your enemy is still good advice.

Enigma said...

Serious question: Are young girls more stressed and unstable under (a) Taliban rule, or (b) Woke morals?

Old-school religions became old-school because they set black-and-white roles and expectations and conveyed these to future generations. Effectively. For hundreds and thousands of years. With a lot of autocracy and bullying and dogma thrown in. But still, what was the suicide / anorexia / depression / dysmorphia rate in medieval Catholic Europe or under Taliban rule versus modern social media culture?

Honest question.

Narr said...

I think we should paradrop ten thousand Code Pink Feminists with pussy hats into Afghanistan to straighten them out.

MB said...

My concern about a ban on forced marriages will just mean that women who are put into arranged marriages are banned from saying they were forced into it.

Saying lives have improved doesn't mean that lives have improved. Look at us, I'm sure the Biden administration has told us that things are better now.

rhhardin said...

Everybody wants a Thai wife but nobody is looking for a Thai husband, some Thai lady mentioned.

Roger Sweeny said...

In 2004, Barry Schwartz published The Paradox of Choice: Why More is Less. It publicized yet another problem with capitalism. According to the book, "an abundance of options actually requires more effort to choose and can leave us feeling unsatisfied with our choice." "eliminating consumer choices can greatly reduce anxiety for shoppers." Eliminating choices actually makes you feel better.

The Taliban don't believe in half-measures.

Aggie said...

Where's all the outspoken advocacy and tough behavior-modification incentives, when you really need them? Or am I being too confrontational?

Owen said...

“…Is hope comfortable?”

Ask Mark Zuckerberg. Kindness is all.

robother said...

Althouse: What is a "comfortable life"? Is it not accepting the reality where you find yourself and feeling good about whatever it is you happen to have? Is hope comfortable?

Good questions. Feminism, like other identity politics, in the name of hope inspires devotees to trade comfort for a life of discontent. Its success as a political movement depends on a group of individuals who are motivated by an eternal sense of grievance, who take all victories as mere concessions and who are on to the next struggle. Comfort in any form, spiritual or psychological, is the enemy.

In this country, 50% of self-identified progressive adolescent girls report being treated for depression.

wendybar said...

They can thank bumbling Joe Biden.

Big Mike said...

American feminists had 20 years to make an impact on the condition of Afghani women. They could not be bothered. Now that the US has no leverage in that sorry excuse for a country, they emote all over the plight of their Afghani sisters. This proves — as if proof was needed — that American feminists are all about posturing and moaning about a non-existent patriarchy, and not about accomplishing anything. No wonder so many “women of the year” and beauty queens are biological males — feminists are not even good at being, much less supporting, real women.

Leland said...

Biden left Afghan women with apathy and apparently that's a good thing. And Biden is trying to do the same for all in the US.

Alexander said...

An article like this is directed to convince Americans to do one of two things.

- Invade a foreign country
- Allow foreigners to invade America

Maybe life is more comfortable, maybe life is a horrible mess in the Afghan highlands. Probably, horrible - it's been meager existance for millenia before America ever existed; basically the Laos of Central Asia: a place so poor and pain-in-the-ass to get to that the effort of the richer empires that occasionally border it rarely bother going into the place. Not a bad survival strategy, but one that requires its denizens to not make much of a fuss about the lack of life's finer luxuries, be it steam engines, snapple, female literacy rates, etc etc.

It is what it is. Savages east of Suez tend to do savage things. The real problem is that I don't live east of Suez, I don't want to live among savages or have savages shipped in to live among me, but my free press has nothing better to do that try to brainworm into the American populace the need to do exactly that.

Let the Afghans go on living the same cycle of life they've been doing since forever, so long as it stays 7500 or so miles away.

Free Manure While You Wait! said...

"What is a "comfortable life"?"

He who knows he has enough is rich.

- Lao Tzu

Robert Cook said...

"American feminists had 20 years to make an impact on the condition of Afghani women. They could not be bothered. Now that the US has no leverage in that sorry excuse for a country, they emote all over the plight of their Afghani sisters."

How, in the past 20 years, did "American feminists" have any opportunity to "make an impact on the condition of Afghani women?" What "leverage" did the US have in Afghanistan, other than brute force--the leverage asserted by any occupying military force in an alien country? What makes you think the US government or our occupying troops were concerned or tasked with improving the lives of Afghani women and children (or of the population in general)? You seem to believe we invaded Afghanistan for noble reasons.

Robert Cook said...

"In this country, 50% of self-identified progressive adolescent girls report being treated for depression."

Is that an actual statistic? 50% of "self-identified progressive" adolescent girls? If so, is there a statistic for self-identified traditional or non-progressive adolescent girls?

Assuming the claimed stat above is accurate, what are the causes of the reported depression? Do the causes for depression among self-identified progressive adolescent girls differ from those found in self-identified traditional adolescent girls?

Oligonicella said...

"What is a "comfortable life"? Is it not accepting the reality where you find yourself and feeling good about whatever it is you happen to have?"

No.

cassandra lite: Almost, hope was the only thing that didn't escape. Keep in mind, the box was filled with curses.

Static Ping said...

"Improved" is a weasel word and is very dependent on what you define as your goal.

James K said...

“Lie back and think of Afghanistan.”

Craig Mc said...

It's a lie so enormous, I could imagine Jen Psaki telling it.

Kirk Parker said...

If women in Afghanistan are better off, it must be because of all the child care centers the Taliban are building. Let's ask Patty Murray.

Big Mike said...

What "leverage" did the US have in Afghanistan, other than brute force--the leverage asserted by any occupying military force in an alien country?

“Brute force” and terror should not be underestimated. It’s how Marxism works, after all.