breasts that much bigger. In the question of who is really a slave to their society, it is the so-called liberated women of the western world who lose. At least the woman in the burqa has self respect.The Taliban brutally removed women from the world that they were accustomed to. Perhaps it would not have been so bad for them had they not known the freedoms of education and the workforce. Unfortunately, however, they did, and the abruptness of its removal is still a shock to many. Many women give up what it means to live. Some function because they have to. Many are clinically depressed. Each year, those who are able to find the means, commit suicide, opting for death rather than the hell in which they exist. Women in Afghanistan are but a shadow of their former selves, slaves to the Taliban’s whims. No longer are working, education, freedom or even having friends an option. A woman’s place, according to the Taliban is in seclusion in 7the home where she can contemplate god all day, everyday. Not everyone in Afghanistan agrees with this, and much of the Western world does not either. Perhaps one day women in Afghanistan will triumph over the misogyny of the Taliban and regain their rightful place in society. Perhaps one day the women of the western world will realize what they do to themselves every time they pick up a Cosmopolitan magazine. We are not all that different, Muslim women in Afghanistan and the women in Canada and the United States. We Westerners however are much worse, as we choose our subjugation every time we buy into the beauty myth. If they had our freedom they would likely use it much more wisely.8Works CitedGoodwin, Jan. “Risking Her Life to Teach Girls.” Marie Claire December 2000: 171.Lemon, Michele. “Understanding Does Not Always Lead to Tolerance.” Reader’s Choice. 3rd Canadian Edition. Kim Flachmann, Michael Flachmann, & Alexandra MacLennan.Toronto: Prentice-...
