Event Commentary

During Atlas Week, I had the opportunity to listen to the keynote address in which Shabana Basij-Rasikh spoke about the importance of educating young girls-not only in Afghanistan but in any other country or place in which girls are repressed. Perhaps the most impactful moment-for me, anyway-was the moment in which she revealed that the men in traditional dress that the audience described as ‘oppressive’ and ‘bigoted’ were men that were fighting to educate their girls. This shift of perception was incredible, it highlighted many things: the ignorance and xenophobia that is pervasive in this country (even among educated people), the sweeping generalizations we make of people from other countries that we do not understand, and the progress we have to make in terms of cultural competence.  Only in this way will we be able to make progress globally in tackling issues relating to women and girls-and society as a whole. We talked about this in class on Thursday and I think it is worth emphasizing once again: feminism will not accomplish its goals if it does not meet people where they are and try to understand how to address those difficult issues. Shabana made an important point when she brought up the picture of those men and the stories of the girls in her schools: Afghanis (and people from many other countries) have so much to offer this world and we can’t go on believing we are going to ‘save them’, rather we should invest in them.