Honor Culture
Honor is usually viewed in a completely positive light. But when notions of propriety become entangled into an honor culture replete with certain expectations, the issue suddenly gets way more complicated:
“Reputation is more than symbolic in Afghanistan; it is a commodity that is hard to restore once it has been damaged. Much like a credit score, it should constantly be preserved and ideally also improved upon”
Culture Clash
The clash of cultures between an Islamic nation and the countries making up “western civilization” proves to be more complicated than one might expect. A woman can adopt the garb of Muslim women and even attempt to walk the walk, but the perception turns out to be way broader than mere physicality:
“They watch me not only because I am obviously a Westerner, Shukria points out. They look at me because I walk around as though I “am the owner of everything.’”
Titanic’s Happy Ending
One example of the massive chasm existing between Afghan culture and that of the west is summed up in an observation about James Cameron’s lugubrious film about the sinking of a famous ship. The predictable plot—and not just the part about the ship sinking—is rarely viewed as one with a happy ending in America, except by all those boyfriends watching with girlfriends for whom the film just finally ending is a cause for celebration. For the girlfriends in Afghanistan, however, the movie has a happy ending:
“The film Titanic is the perfect Afghan tale, where impossible love ends with death. All the girls have seen grainy, pirated versions of it more than once.”
The Story of Afghanistan
In the Epilogue, the author assert that it is impossible extricate the history of Afghanistan from the history of gender convention, expectation, and subversion. And, it goes without saying, the history of gender convention and expectation is the history of the expression of male dominance over women:
“Afghanistan is a story of patriarchy, in a raw form.”
Only Worth More and Not Around Forever
An interesting metaphorical analogy is drawn about one of the fundamental elements of patriarchal power and its deceptively protective engagement with misogyny. Of course, the analogy is not really sound because the worth of diamonds is not inherent, but manipulated by industry:
“A woman is a very beautiful thing. In order to protect something beautiful, you should cover it. Like a diamond. You cannot just put it on the street, because everyone would just come and take it.”
