ss 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 7 the 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. 8 Works Cited Goodwin, 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-Hall, 2000. 477-9. Marsden, Peter. The Taliban. War, Religion And The New Order in Afghanistan. New York: Zed Books Ltd, 1998. Mustafa, Naheed. “My Body is My On Business.”Reader’s Choice. 3rd Canadian Edition. Kim Flachmann, Michael Flachmann, & Alexandra MacLennan. Toronto: Prentice-Hall, 2000. 480-1. Olesen, Asta. Islam and Politics in Afghanistan. Wiltshire, Great Britain: Antony Rowe Ltd. 1995. Works Consulted Mousavi, Sa...
