Gender Aid Interventions and Afghan Women: Images versus Realities

The author Faegheh Shiraz born in Iran is Associate Professor in the Islamic Studies Program at the University of Texas at Austin. She is author of several academic publications. Her most recent book is “Velvet Jihad: Muslim Women's Quiet Resistance to Islamic Fundamentalists”. She is currently working on another book project hoping to publish it by 2016.

The essay “Gender Aid Interventions and Afghan Women: Images versus Realities” is one of the original essays of book “Muslim Women in War and Crisis” in 2011 by Lina Abirafeh. The author is representing in the essay different cultural viewpoints of Afghanistan women. The text is about how the Western media has been represented Muslim women and how Muslim women represent themselves.

In the mid-1970s there started to be talking about women´s rights and modern technology. The Author points out how Western media perceptions build a certain kind of image of Afghnistan women. The author argues in the text “Afghan women reveals a specific rhetoric that has informed public perception and in turn has informed the design of aid interventions for Afghan women.” (Shiraz F, 2011, p.79) In selected images are often stereotypes of Afghan women and they are portrayed as a weak and not as strong women. The images give a picture that Afghanistan women need to be saved “from something”(Shiraz F, 2011, p.81) and they are not enough strong by themselves.

The author tells that overall interviewed Afghanistan women started to be aware how women are treated in different countries and women from different backgrounds have different opinions of women´s right in Afghanistan. Interviews also show that the most important value for Muslim women is their religion. One of the women pointed out that ”religion is an important part of society. Without it, there cannot be progress.” (Shiraz F, 2011, p.86) Then came national identity, ethnic background and gender and family ranked lower. The author was surprised that women ranked family for last when men as a second most important aspect.

Interviews showed also regardless of the age or background women felt frustrated of failed programs implemented by aid institutions.  They feel that it doesn´t support all of the women. The author point out that most of the women feel that acknowledge of new rights of women show only on paper, but they can´t analyse or understand the freedom and it doesn´t show in their lives. The author analyses in the text  “Afghan women have not been given an opportunity to set their own agenda negotiate changing identities”, and this applies that maybe approaching way doesn´t work for all of the women in Afghanistan.

In my opinion text is for special audience working in the feminism interventions or interested of outside of Western world culture. As now days visual thinking is even more up it can´t be argued that media plays a big role in people´s impression of Muslim women lives. The author point out in her conclusion “it is important to understand hat nature of Afghan “feminism” may not necessarily resemble a Western model”(Shiraz F, 2011, p.90) and be aware of that is important when figuring out how to assist these women.

Wearing burka is part of Muslim women identity. They feel it protects them and they feel it gives them a freedom.  As a fashion designer I´m interested if thoese how don´t want to wear it can do it safe in Aghanistan?

Diesel´s 2013 advertaisment of denim niqab. The brand received mixed reviws of the picture. Some liked diversity of using a fashion model, contemporary styling and traditional religious article of clothing, when other felt disrespectful of using a symbolic, meaningful Islamic headpiece out of context. 

References:

Abirafeh,L. (2011) ´Gendered Aid Interventions and Afghan Women: Images versus Realities´ in Shirazi, Faegheh (ed.) Muslim Women in War and Crisis: Representation and Reality. Austin: University of Texas Press, pp. 77-91

Shirazi, F. (2016) Muslim women in war and crisis representation and reality edited by Faegheh Shirazi. Available at: https://utpress.utexas.edu/books/shimus (Accessed: 27 November 2016).

The university of Texas at Austin - academia.edu (2016) Available at: http://utexas.academia.edu/FaeghehShirazi (Accessed: 27 November 2016).

 Image:

Available at: http://comeintoland.tumblr.com/post/118432987972/new-post-has-been-published-on (Downloaded 28 November 2016)