Women's Rights In A Thousand Splendid Suns

Women all across the world, for centuries, have always been viewed as inferior to men, second-class citizens. In the U.S., women were given the ability to vote only about 90 years ago, and that’s in a developed country. Afghanistan, a country war-torn to this day, fails to give women the rights they deserve. In the book A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini, Mariam and Laila were limited to a very restrained life because of Afghanistan’s societal norms before and after the Taliban’s rule. Mariam and Laila are deprived of the right to go to school or work, making them dependent on Rasheed. When Rasheed lost his job and could not make a living, he made Laila send Aziza to the orphanage. Laila had to do as Rasheed said because she

During one of Laila’s and Rasheed’s fights, he threatened to tell the Taliban about Aziza—how it’s not his child but Tariq’s. “I could go to the Taliban one day, just walk in and say that I have my suspicions about you. That’s all it would take.” Rasheed says, “Whose word do you think they would believe?”(Hosseini 252) Rasheed knows that the Taliban will trust his words more than Laila’s, simply because he is a man. This shows how in the Taliban's eye, a woman’s opinion is as light as a feather compared to a man's. Mariam and Laila are placed in a state where people belittle their opinions and doubt whatever comes out of their mouths, causing them to feel little self-worth. This makes it especially difficult for women to speak out about the injustices they faced and fight for what’s right. Following Roe v. Wade's overturned, many women are unable to find the care they desperately need. But it’s hard to voice your opinion when only 28% of the congress are females. Creating an environment where women's voices are equally heard benefits all, and stops mistakes from A Thousand Splendid Sun from