Afghan women are telling Taliban ‘don’t touch my clothes’. it’s a new culture war

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heyThe Most Comments, Most Jokes & Memes, Of The Outfits Of The Met Gala 2021 Were From Kim Kardashian all-black outfit Which covered his whole face. It didn’t take long for those memes to pit the 40-year-old reality TV star’s outfit against the burqa. It hit home in Afghanistan, where the back-in-power Taliban wants Afghan women to dress in exactly the same way.

But Afghan women are using their online presence around the world to stage a different kind of protest, this time with their traditional clothing at the center of it. The message for the Taliban is clear: #DoNotTouchMyClothes.

The protest movement began on 12 September when historian Dr Bahar Jalali posted the first picture with the hashtag, in response to Hundreds of women in fully masked attire take part in Kabul University at the behest of the Taliban. Soon, journalists, human rights activists, foreign students and members of the Pashtun Tahfuz Movement (PTM) – in both Pakistan and Afghanistan – began sharing their photographs in colorful clothes.

Much of the debate and concern about the Taliban’s withdrawal has centered on the fate of women and whether they will be allowed to work or whether the Taliban have gained independence beyond what the Taliban has set for them, means “pushback” from Afghan women. will be attracted. Significant attention from international media. After all, this is the new culture war in Afghanistan.

Read also: The world must not look away as the Taliban make sex slaves of women and girls

colorful response to terror

Many ask if the Taliban has changed. People forget to see how the internet has changed Afghan women. They are finding new ways to protest and there are places online like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter etc where they do not find a voice in Taliban-crowded streets of Afghanistan.

Journalist Malali Bashir has long been photographing Afghan women in various costumes and dances to document Afghan culture and tell people “how I miss Afghan women growing up”.

atan is #afghanistanThe national dance group of the U.S. is performed in circles.

I have portrayed this attan in a way that is how I miss Afghan women growing up.

It is us, not being whipped or stone-pelting. We will be poets. We will be artists. We will guard.
#WorldArtDay2021 pic.twitter.com/l7VQCRiVIF

— Malali Bashir (@MalaliBashir) April 15, 2021

The ongoing protest movement gave him another reason to continue his work.

I paint #Afghan Women in traditional clothes to show the world our beautiful culture. an old painting of mine pic.twitter.com/z8FcB7CCcp

— Malali Bashir (@MalaliBashir) September 13, 2021

PTM member and human rights activist Spozme Maseed was one of the social media users who posted her picture with the caption: “The black burqa has never been a part of Afghan culture.”

This is our afghan authentic dress. Afghan women wear such colorful and modest clothes. The black burqa has never been a part of Afghan culture. #freeafghanistanI pic.twitter.com/v9LIbcvklG

— spozhmey (@spozhmey) September 12, 2021

Even painters from South Korea joined the hashtag movement.

no one has the right to destroy the culture#DoNotTouchMyClothes #Afghanistan Culture pic.twitter.com/6w5sWwijMp

— KWS (@kgproject2) September 15, 2021

Read also: The Taliban in Afghanistan has not changed. just ask the ladies

the art of resistance

We usually think of traditional clothing as ‘limited’ to women, mostly because it is fixed on them. In addition, ‘traditional’ is often understood to be modest, and indicates a woman’s ‘good’ character, and/or adherence to ‘observance’ culture.

But on this special occasion, Afghan women everywhere are wearing colorful dresses. It’s a legacy that has now become the most powerful way to back down against the rule trying to examine women’s bodies and choices.

As Jalali says, she campaign started Because “one of my biggest concerns is an attack on Afghanistan’s identity and sovereignty”.

Some Afghan women have already begun to dress more modestly and the “chadari” – a blue garment with only a mesh rectangle in front of the eyes – has made a comeback. It has also been told how are the burqa shops fast business With the withdrawal of the Taliban.

But if this protest movement is anything to go by, it is not all bleak in Afghanistan. Resistance is here to stay, and it is through the act of protesting that courageous Afghan women are making statements, whatever the outcome. The Taliban have returned to face a ‘new generation’ of Afghan women who will not give up.

Thoughts are personal.

(edited by Prashant)

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