New Law in Afghanistan

This morning, I was browsing through the New York Times online, and I came across this article about a new law in Afghanistan.  The law is only directed at the Shiite minority and has three provisions.  It makes it marital rape legal, requires that a woman get her husband's permission before working outside the home or going to school, and it makes it legal for a man to force his wife to "make herself up" or "dress up" if he wants her to.  The article speculated that the Afghan President, Hamid Karzai, did this to render support from the Shiites in the upcoming election.  Karzai receives a lot of support from the United States and other Western nations, so he quickly came under attack from the leaders of these nations for passing such an oppressive law.  Now, he is reviewing the law to potentially change it.

The article also talked about a march that about 300 women had protesting this law.  They were attacked on the streets by men, but they continued on to the Parliament were they vocalized their feelings about this law.  According tot he article, most of the women in Afghanistan are illiterate and do not have nearly half as many freedoms as the men.  "But there they were, most of them young, many in jeans, defying a threatening crowd and calling out slogans heavy with meaning."

This whole thing took me really off guard.  Obviously, I have known for some time that women suffer from great oppression in the Middle East, but when I went on the New York Times website this morning, I really wasn't prepared for something like this.  When I first started reading the article, I thought of Shaima in our class, and it made me really sad.  I really don't know if she falls into the Shiite minority or not, but either way, it made me think of her.  Every time I read an article regarding that area, I wonder how someone could really deal with such things on a day to day basis and be as well-adjusted as she is.  Even before knowing Shaima, I would read articles like this or see stories like this on TV news and really feel somewhat spoiled for the life I have lived here.  I get upset when my computer breaks or when I don't do well on a paper.  Reading stories like this make me sit back and realize how lucky I am to have access to my own personal computer and, especially, to be enrolled in school as a woman.