The Dressmaker of Khair Khana - Essay Example

Introduction The Dress maker of khana is a captivating book that talks about the life of one family that has five sistersand Kamila Sidiqi the main character that protects the entire family (Lemmon, 2007). Kamila Sidiqi is an Afghanistan woman who has just completed her teaching degree but she must take of her family. However, this is the time when there is the civil war jobs are hard to come by and so she has to look for means to fend for her family. This is when she decides to start her own dressmaking business and with a lot of willpower, she wants to see it successful. In addition to this, she mobilizes her community to stand against the Taliban who had taken control of Kabul City where she lived. This book is therefore her personal story and her buoyancy to keep her family intact at a time when there is chaos in Afghanistan and women are not allowed to go to any public places and particularly to schools. My paper will look into the two major issues of distributive injustice as well as cultural imperialism that Kamila and her community faced once the Taliban entered their city of Kabul. Deutsch defines distributive injustice as having four different kinds of capital which includes investment, consumption, social and skill (Deutsch, 2005). In Kamila’s example they face skill capital especially when Kamila who has completed her teaching degree is denied the chance to get a teaching job and is forced to stay at home. There is also the social capital whereby kamila her sisters and the women in the neighborhood get together to grow the dressmaking business. Cultural imperialism on the other hand according to Deutsch “involves the universalization of a dominant group's experience and culture and establishing it as the norm.". For example in Kamila’s story the women have to wear the chadri as mandated by the Taliban’s, something that they were not used to. When it comes to growth mindset Dweck states that is helpful to people’s growth as they look forward to a successful future however there is always a risk of failure (Dweck, 2006). For instance Kamila did not despair when she found out she could not get work, instead she started her own business in dressmaking and made it her priority to see it through to the end. Her business was however facing a lot of challenges particularly from the Taliban’s. This example shows that there is a risk element in growth mindset since despite the fact the Kamila was hopeful of succeeding her businesses she could she did not see the challenges ahead of her which would have affected the businesses growth. History of Afghanistan Afghanistan’s history dates back to 500BC at the time of the Achaemenid Empire. The meaning of Afghanistan translates to “land of Afghans”. Some of the most powerful kingdoms came because of Afghanistan state with the inclusion of Kushans, Ghurids, Hotakis, Mauryas and many others. When it comes to how women in Afghanistan are treated, this is whole different story especially compared to western societies. Women in Afghanistan are denied the privilege to many essential things with examples of education, work and even power. It is believed that women’s role is to stay at home while the men go out to fend for the family. Women are also not allowed to speak in public as they are only to be seen and not heard. Should they go out they have to be escorted by a man from their own home. Once the Taliban gained power in the year 1995, girls and women were automatically discriminated upon as well as their human rights being undermined. As a result, this led to the social and economic standards of women getting worse. Women who had previously been having good jobs as doctors, teachers found themselves jobless. This is why prostitution increased at a very alarming rate. In the year 2001, the Taliban has later prohibited women from even driving their own cars. Worse still, they would be humiliated and hammered in public. Another Taliban rule was that women had to go out fully covered from head to toe with the inclusion of their eyes so that only their husbands would see their beauty. This kind of maltreatment is what women in Kamila’s community faced, especially is being denied education and employment "'Where is your chadri?' one of the men shouted at his victim as he lifted his arms above his head to strike her.  'Why are you not covered?  What kind of woman are you to go out like this?” ...(Lemmon 14). How Kamila is oppressed using Deutsch’s article According to Deutsch (2005), there are various forms of injustices that come out as oppression and these are procedural, moral exclusion, distributive injustice, retributive injustice and finally cultural imperialism. In the case of Kamila the form of oppression that she and the women in her community fell in is both moral exclusion and cultural imperialism. In Deutsch’s terms, moral exclusion refers to moral exclusion as individuals being entitled to or denied fair treatment based on a person’s moral community. In addition to this, he speaks of a time in history where there were certain people as well as groups that treated other people in an inhuman manner (Deutsch, 2005). This was how Kamila and other women in her community were ruthlessly stripped of the way they used to live their life there before. After the Taliban entered Kabul, they formed a completely different set of regulations and rules, which forever diverted Kamila’s future together with that of her family. Life for the Kabul women came to a standstill as they were oppressed by being chased away from their own homes. The men however were also not spared from the harshness as they would be forced to join the Taliban war and most decided to escape to avoid this. If they refused, they would be tortured, sent to prison and worse still killed “At seventeen, Najeeb and his cousins had become prey for mass detentions. Once they were picked up, the Taliban could press-gang them into service and ship them off to fight.” (Lemmon 34) The other form of oppression Kabul woman faced is cultural imperialism (Deutsch, 2005). This according to Deutsch means taking a majority groups culture as well as experience and making it to be the norm. This is what the Taliban did in the Kabul community once they invaded it. They imposed their rules and made them become what the Kabul community will follow. For example, women were forced to go out fully covered and they became the breadwinners at their homes “'I have to find a way to support my children,' Sara told Kamila.  'I don't know what else to do, or where else to go” (Lemmon 110). As stated by Deutsch groups that are dominated by culture live a life of double identity since they are first living the culture group they come from and the one that is now dominant (Deutsch, 2005). How Kamila is oppressed using Dweck’s article The main character who is Kamila and her family however are able to overcome the oppression they were facing. This is as a result of some few women who were brave enough to run away from their homes and still continue to be female doctors as they were highly needed. As Dweck (2006), has explained in her book “mindset: the new psychology of success”, a mindset need not to be extremely strict and each every person has a growth mindset or a fixed mindset. Having a growth mindset is better since one takes advantage of their abilities and what they have and make good use of it (Dweck, 2006). She continues to state when people have a good mindset in their lives, they can be successful as was the case with Kamila and the Kabul women. The fact that women were not disturbed while they were at their homes made them have time to socialize, have a good time, stay without their chadri and make the best out of what was a hard time. Conversely, the fact that men were not around meant that women had to fend for themselves and this is when Kamila started the dress making business so that she could be able to take care of herself and her sisters. They did this in their own living room and they were determined as ever to succeed. The success of the dressmaking business soon reached the other women in Kabul, they started looking for jobs, and buying dresses. “My husband's family can't care for us much longer, and I don't want to be a burden to them all.  I must find a job” (Lemmon 110). This work was a source of solace both psychologically and emotionally as well as financially. This business uplifted the women who were facing extremely harsh conditions. Conclusion This paper has thoroughly looked in the forms of oppression particularly based on Kamila’s life together with women in her community. I have learnt that different cultures have challenges and in many cases, women are the people who suffer the most. Nevertheless, it will depend on how the people in that community will face the challenges. I also learnt that women in Afghanistan up to today face many hardships especially because of their culture. They have to be the breadwinners of their homes now that the men are at war. According to Lemmon, women have to have money for them to feel in and be in control especially the Afghanistan women as they will be able to make their own income, they will stop depending on men and this will make them independent to make decisions. Reflection While writing the paper there were certain challenges that when preparing and writing this research paper. The first was being able to come up with the best and catchy thesis. This is because I was cautious with bringing out a thesis that will grab the reader’s attention and tell him what the paper will be about. Another challenge was marrying the two concepts of oppression by Deutsch and the hard life of Kamila as shown in the dressmaker of khair khana book. Nevertheless, I have gained quite a number of writing skills while preparing and writing this paper. For example in when it comes to researching information from the books given and outside sources. I was able to identify which information is more relevant than the other and what information would enrich my paper. I also learnt how to get accurate and factual sources that would make my paper credible. Organizing the paper was another thing I learnt so that it would have a good flow enabling the reader to understand my main points and not get lost. My writing skills have therefore tremendously improved. I am now a better researcher as well as writer. In addition to this as a college student, I have learnt that with determination and a lot of zeal and a positive mindset nothing is impossible. In my plan to grow as a writer I will continue to tread widely while ensuring that, I do thorough research to improve my writing skills. Work Cited Dweck, Carol S. Mindset: The New Psychology of Success. New York: Random House, 2006. Print. Lemmon, Gayle Tzemach. The Dressmaker of KhairKhana. New York; Ballantine Books, 2007. Print. Deutsch, Morton. Forms of oppression. (2005). 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