Mahnaz was born in western Afghanistan to a Shia family that placed high value on education. When she was eight years old, the Taliban came to power; Shias were particularly vulnerable to the Sunni Taliban threat. Fear and poverty forced the family to flee to Iran, where they faced economic and educational discrimination. After the fall of the Taliban, the family returned to Afghanistan, where Mahnaz studied hard and won a scholarship to continue her education in the USA.
Afghan Feminist Thought, part 3
April 12, 2012 1 Comment
Men often quote a hadith (a saying) from the Prophet Mohammad in which he asked his daughter, “Who is the best woman?”
Stamped as a Girl
March 19, 2012 7 Comments
Take care of boy, leave that girl, grandmother said
She becomes a wife of a stranger; the son is backbone of family
Afghan Feminist Thought, part 2
February 13, 2012 3 Comments
One young woman in Kabul who wanted to get divorced from her abusive husband took her request to court. The judge took her aside and told her that he would help her get a divorce under one condition: That she sleep with him.
Afghan Feminist Thought, part 1
February 6, 2012 1 Comment
Consider first, economics. Afghan women are rarely permitted to earn money; earning money is considered a male job. Exploitation of women’s labor in the home is essential to the Afghan economic system.
Please Pray for My Friend
July 12, 2011 2 Comments
They do it in the name of religion. They believe, “their seven generations will burn in the hell if they allow her daughter to marry with a boy from Sunni sect.” This is what mullahs feed minds.
A Beautiful Woman
May 19, 2011 16 Comments
A beautiful woman is a girl who stands against a cruel community and culture to marry someone who is not in the same sect. She looks for humanity, not rubbish characteristics that Mullahs filled her family’s minds with. This beautiful woman is a courageous Afghan girl who her father takes to kill for the fault of loving someone and choosing her future man. And when her father tries to kill her, she sobs and just says, “Father, I love you, understand me! Don’t kill me for loving someone who is different from us.
A Lively Morning
May 3, 2011 3 Comments
My broom dances, sweeping the dust
My heart is full of happiness, my feet full of energy
Smell of water in the mud wall makes me alive
I Wish I Were a Bird
April 25, 2011 2 Comments
I wish I were a bird
to fly beyond the clouds,
go to the cemetery,
sit with dead people,
dance on top of graves.
You: My Beautiful Dream
April 15, 2011 Leave a Comment
I saw white birds. They laughed, stole your hat, maybe for
a new nest, for a new happiness. I know it is your gift
to them, for the ceremony of our love.
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