7: Female oppression and the Burqa

In class, the discussion on the movie, Kandahar prompted questions regarding the nature of exile.  In particular, what kind of exiles do woman face? And is the Afghan experience in some sense unique? This blogpost will explore the nature of the female Afghan experience.

The following two scenes serve to highlight this.

The first, when Nafas, the female protagonist, enters Afghanistan she is told she must wear a burqa to protect the honour of the male escort. Clothing, particularly the burqa, in Afghan culture is used to signify the domination and subjection of the females by the males. The conversation of Nafas with her escort is telling in this regard, where the escort instructs:

“ First, you must cover your face. We have honour, we have faith and we have religion. Other men should not see our women. When you are with me, people will make fun of me… if I appear to be a man without dignity…they will say his ‘his wife is not covering her face’ …You are not wearing this burqa for show. It is for hijab (cover)”

 The second at the Red Cross where Hamidullah is attempting to haggle the Red Cross agent for a more appropriate limb for his wife.

Hamidullah : Miss they are really huge, They wouldn’t fit her. My wife has small legs.

Red Cross agent: They are not for beauty. But they are very heavy. They have to be strong so your wife can walk on them... they are for her to be able to walk comfortably

Hamidullah: I will take these. They are fit for her…They are a good fit. They match my wife’s legs. The other ones were huge and long. Look these are my wife’s wedding shoes. This shoe fits this leg.

However, Hamidullah continues to ignore the agent and instead, fondles an empty burka before a mirror, imagines what his wife would look like with her new leg. This scene presents a powerful representation of victimization and devastation of the female. There is a complete and obvious disregard for pain and suffering as beauty is given precedence over the medical instruction.  It is pertinent to note that the burqa is used as a marker for the selection process. Interestingly enough, despite the burqah functioning as an all encompassing veil, the only part of the body that remains visible while walking are the feet. This scene serves to demonstrate that the feet too must meet the said criteria-decided by men- in order that the female continues to preserve the honour of the male.

Both scenes, offer a powerful cinematic representation of female subjection and oppression enforced by the burqa. The movie serves to portray an alternative existence for women where they are held captives by their very clothes. This can be supported by the ending of the movie where, looking at the eclipse through her burqa, nafas says, “today I am a prisoner of each of these prisons, only for you, my sister”.  This Afghan experience is unique because despite being in their homeland each and every act of their daily life including their clothing and feet is dictated and regulated by men.