In case you thought feminism was no longer needed…

December 2, 2011Edward Bowserfeminism, in the news, sexism sucks0

When teaching early feminist texts such as Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s short story “The Yellow Wallpaper” and Kate Chopin’s novel The Awakening I always ask my students if they believe women are still treated unfairly and restricted by societal norms. Most students say no and with confidence state that men and women are now seen as equal. Clearly, those students have not read stories like this —

From USA Today via the Associated Press:

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) – Afghan President Hamid Karzai on Thursday pardoned an Afghan woman serving a 12-year prison sentence for having sex out of wedlock after she was raped by a relative Karzai’s office said in a statement that the woman and her attacker have agreed to marry. That would reverse an earlier decision by the 19-year-old woman, who had previously refused a judge’s offer of freedom if she agreed to marry the rapist.

The article reports that about half of the 300 to 400 women jailed in Afghanistan are imprisoned for so-called “moral crimes” such as sex outside marriage, or running away from their husbands, according to reports by the United Nations and research organizations.

And while some of severe restrictions women faced under the Taliban, like a ban on attending schools and having to have a male escort to venture outside the home, dissipated when the radical Islamic movement was forced from power in 2001, women are still sold to husbands and many laws that grant women more rights are ignored.

The New York Times has more on this story.

Remember the plight of these women the next time you think the women’s right movement is no longer necessary.

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