A Critical Review of Afghan Women: What the West Gets Wrong
Introduction and Summary:
Bina Shah’s Afghan Women: What the West Gets Wrong provides actual examples of Afghan women in the world who are experiencing the effects of western aid programs. By doing this, the reader is able to view certain situations from the eyes of the Afghan women and not by his or her own perspective. The article begins by telling the story of twenty-year-old Reza Gul. Reza disagreed with her husband on the matter of taking a six or seven-year-old as his second wife, and, as her punishment, her husband cut off her nose. This example of an unbroken promise to free Afghan women from the Taliban’s harsh rule led Shah to explain how western aid programs may not…show more content… Most Westerners believe that Afghan women are oppressed, helpless, and faceless. In Afghan Women: What the West Gets Wrong, Shah writes, “In fact, the self-image of a great many Afghan women doesn’t match the victimhood awarded them by Western aid workers. They see themselves instead as brave, capable, and strong.” (Shah, 2016). Shah shatters certain generalizations made about Afghan women by including a few of their stories about everyday life. The reader becomes more aware about what the women are experiencing since he or she is viewing the situation from the point of view of the Afghan women.
Conclusion:
Bina Shah is able to engage a Western audience by including interviews with Afghan women’s rights workers and activists and situational examples of Afghan women in everyday life. The examples that Shah provides allow the reader to gain further understanding about the life of Afghan women. Including the viewpoints of Afghan women and those who work with them can possibly cause a Western audience to not judge or make generalizations about Afghan
