Khaled Housseini does an amazing job portraying his homeland Afghanistan in the eyes of a woman (A Thousand Splendid Suns) and a man (Kite Runner). What I've heard of Afghanistan and it's lifestyle of both genders are just unfair considering our society. For example, A woman isn't even allowed to leave her own home without her man being with her. And a man is allowed to marry more than 1 woman at a time. Thinking about Canada and our lifestyle, what do you think of this?
-Abdul
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I believe that in Canada women have the right to do anything they want, within the laws of the country. I don't think it is right for the woman's husband to put all these limitations on them when they are in a country where they are supposed to be able to do anything. You can bring culture and everything into Canada, but I believe women should have the same rights and should be able to do as they please.
ReplyDeleteI believe that as a woman we have the same rights as men and shouldn't be treated differently. In Afghanistan, men are superior to women in which they use that as an adavantage. In Comparison, the Canadian lifestyle is different. We are known to be independent and dont depend on our spouse or who ever it may be. As of today we consider men and women to have the same equality rights. Women in today's society still fight for the rights they deserve, although equality is the ultimate goal, sexism still exists and equality between men and women are still an issue that exists to date.
ReplyDeletethe way i see it is. for them its not wierd or strange that the men can marry more than once and that women cant leave the house without the man, its only because we are different do we react like its strange or weird. many of us dont seem to realize that ever country has huge differences when it comes to marrage and tradition yet alone behavior. im oviously not alright with marrying more than one women or having my women on a lease.
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ReplyDeleteI agree with what everyone is saying about women's rights and equality. Canadian lifestyle, in terms of equality, is much better, but even now we are fighting for rights, as Sharon said. But I was just wondering, since Afghanistan has gone through a lot of changes in its government, if it was still currently like this. Religion and culture are a major factor as Sulekha said, but I've heard somewhere that the UN stepped in so the Taliban does not have complete control over the government.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Sulekha. Canadian government took many years to pass a law for women rights. But even in today society women are not treated like man, they are degraded. So Canada is not picture prefect country we still have our floss. On the other hand Afghanistan is a third world country so it doesn't have a proper government system to address laws for women. If I lived in Afghanistan I would probably think it is okay to be treated like how Mariam was treated because of the society I live in and what I'm being expose to. But since I don't I believe its not okay for a man to have other wives because everyone deserves one spouse not more then one.
ReplyDeleteI think its wrong to give your wife no freedom and not allow them to go out without you.I also think it bad to have more than one wife at the same time. Although this is normal in Afghanistan. When i think about this it makes me realize how lucky i am to be living in Canada.
ReplyDeleteI agree with what everybody said. Canada has a past of dealing with many problems that have to deal with women equality.For example, women are allowed to work in Canada and women are not allowed to even leave their own home. This shows the equality in Canada. Thats why I'm thankful for living in Canada.
ReplyDeleteCanada is a diverse place, that protects human rights. But in the past women were not equal with men, they stayed at home and could not vote. Over time things got better for women, but still women are not treated with the respect they deserve. They are portrayed as objects in music videos, magazines, etc. Afganistan is a 3rd world country, that does not have a proper government. The Taliban placed rules that stripped women of their human law. They could not leave their house, go to school, they had to cover themselves, and share their husbands. In Islam you are not forced into anything, like sharing your husband, there are rules for a man to have more than one wife. He has to be able to support his wives, also he has to have the permission of his first wife.
ReplyDeleteI would have to agree that all around the world women are always fighting for equality. However middle eastern countries like Afghanistan, base their government and laws around islam. It might look like women in these countries are getting stripped of their rights, but really laws like these are established for the protection of women. One of the main principles of islam is that men always have to protect women, so laws like women are not allowed to leave their house without a man are established for the well being of women. Canadians might view this differently because of the different society and standards we maintain.
ReplyDeleteI think that what we see as fair is different from how other cultures view as fair. Our society is different from others considering gender roles. It seems that in a Thousand Splendid Suns and in The Kite Runner, people are still following traditional gender role beliefs. Since I am living in Canada, I wouldn't feel comfortable to live a lifestyle where women have husbands who have other wives. But in Afghanistan, they believe there is nothing wrong with that. It is simply the culture and religion that influences the people's desires and thoughts on their ideal lifestyle.
ReplyDeleteI think that the lives we lead her in Canada and the lives the characters in, A Thousand Splendid Suns, lead are completely incomparable. If we take into aspect at how different the circumstances we and the Afghans of the time period were living in, we can see just how different we are. There is such a gap between our governments, religions and culture. What is seen as right and appropriate to them may be unacceptable and ridiculous to us and vice-versa.
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ReplyDeleteCanada respects both genders equally, and we grew up believing that. It was embedded into our minds. When we see people in Afghanistan suffering like that we feel as if it cannot be possible in this modern age. What I think about this problem that Afghanistan has is that if they cannot respect its own citizens equally it cannot solve its war problems with other countries .I also think that it is not right how they treat their women; women should be treated with equal right as men. Also that there should be more people like Laila’s father, he had believed that women should be educated and respected. We might think that it is unfair how the women are treated in Afghanistan, but the women in Afghanistan may think that this is their life and they have to live by the rules they are given. They grew up in a culture that is different from ours. We would fight for our rights, but the majority there might think this is how far I might get and think that is enough for them. For example take Laila’s friends, they had believed that they would not succeed with a higher education and it was alright with them because they knew it was what they were destined for. So I think that some of Afghanistan’s women might be alright with what they are given to some degree, even though we think it is not right
ReplyDeleteWhen I think about how women are treated in Afghanistan I feel it is wrong because they aren't treated equally as men. But when I think about Canada I feel equally the same. Wherever we go women are faced with some kind of inequality and we're not even sure how it started. I don't understand what it is about women that makes them seem unequal in society. There is no reasonable logic behind it but still this inequality is enforced everywhere. It doesn't matter to me what kind of lifestyle there is in any country, women are continually put down and it isn't right.
ReplyDeleteI think it's ridiculous. But you also have to see it as a less developed way of how it is in western countries like Canada or the States. Yeah sure we say men and women are equal but think of this. A lot of big CEO are usually men. Women still get paid less then men in many places. And for some reason men who are nurses are made fun of. I think we're just not upfront about it but there still is some equality issues considering gender even in our society. Not as extreme as in Afghanistan but it still a promblem.
ReplyDeleteI feel really very sad for women in Afghanistan about their way of treatment. I know that men were considered superior to women during the Taliban reign. But now i know as Sola said that as the UN has stepped in, the unjust laws against women are being reformed. As per what i know women were not considered in the Canadian Legal system till the 1927, but in 1928 women were considered equal to men and were placed into the Canadian Legal system. I still feel that women in Canada are mistreated in terms of their pay in big corporations, but as how Emilio said women in Canada are not treated that bad as how they are treated in Afghanistan.
ReplyDeleteWell, I believe that there is a big difference between both countries; Afghanistan being a third world country and Canada a country of freedom and Rights. But looking at Canada and the rights women are given, you can definitely see that the women in Afghanistan lack freedom and rights, but I also believe that this is more because of religion and the protection of women rather than the countries policies.
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ReplyDeleteI believe Ayan is right in saying that these two situations are incomparable. From our perspective living in Canada, we see this as wrong because in our society men and woman are seen as equal. This creates a bias from our point of view, because we are only used to that type of situation. However for the civilians living in Afghanistan they might think the way our woman are living is weird and wrong. I believe these two societies are so different that it would be unfair for us to compare both lifestyles.
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