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Afghan Women Revealed: <i>National Geographic</i> Takes A Look At Women's Lives In Afghanistan (PHOTOS)

Afghan Women Revealed:Takes A Look At Women's Lives In Afghanistan (PHOTOS)
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In the December 2010 issue of National Geographic, writer Elizabeth Rubin takes an inside look at the lives of Afghan women in "Veiled Rebellion." Below is an excerpt from the article:

Twenty-five years ago an Afghan girl with green eyes haunted the cover of National Geographic. She became the iconic image of Afghanistan's plight, a young refugee fleeing the war between the Soviet-backed communists and the American-backed mujahideen. Today the iconic image of Afghanistan is again a young woman--Bibi Aisha, whose husband slashed off her nose and ears as punishment for running away from him and his family. Aisha fled to escape beatings and other abuse.

Why do husbands, fathers, brothers-in-law, even mothers-in-law brutalize the women in their families? Are these violent acts the consequence of a traditional society suddenly, after years of isolation and so much war, being hurled into the 21st century? And which Afghans in this society are committing the violence? There are significant differences between the Hazaras, Tajiks, Uzbeks, and Pashtuns, the most populous and conservative group and the one that has dominated political life since the 1880s.

Read Rubin's full article in the December issue of National Georgraphic, on newsstands now.

View Lynsey Addario's amazing full gallery here.

View a selection of the the amazing photos below. Photos and captions are courtesy of National Geographic:

Veiled Rebellion: National Geographic
In Labor On The Road (01 of06)
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I saw two women on the side of the mountain, in burkas and without a man. In Afghanistan you seldom see an unaccompanied woman. Noor Nisa, about 18, was pregnant; her water had just broken. Her husband, whose first wife had died during childbirth, was determined to get Noor Nisa to the hospital in Faizabad, a four-hour drive from their village in Badakhshan Province. His borrowed car broke down, so he went to find another vehicle. I ended up taking Noor Nisa, her mother, and her husband to the hospital, where she delivered a baby girl. (credit:Lynsey Addario/National Geographic )
Unafraid To Rally(02 of06)
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The only women on the street were beggars—usually widows or wives of disabled men. On many Fridays the Taliban performed public executions at the sports stadium in Kabul. Ten years later, at a rally for a presidential candidate in the same stadium, women participated—some in burkas, some not. In this picture, the women who did not want to be photographed covered their faces. (credit:Lynsey Addario/National Geographic)
Praying With Tears (03 of06)
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In Herat the shrine to Shahzada Qasim, a descendant of the Prophet Muhammad, is more than a thousand years old. One day of each week a section is partitioned so women can come to worship. Cordoned off to create a sanctuary for women, these prayer sections seem to me like some of the safest, most intimate places in the country. The women at the shrine in Herat are enveloped in chadors that cover them from head to foot, influenced by the style favored in neighboring Iran. In this shrine and in shrines throughout Afghanistan, some of the women weep uncontrollably. I always wonder why they are crying. Perhaps because of the deeply emotional nature of public prayer and the holiness of the place? (credit:Lynsey Addario/National Geographic)
Scarred For Life (04 of06)
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Bibi Aisha was 19 when I met her in Kabul's Women for Afghan Women shelter in November 2009. Her husband beat her from the day she was married, at age 12. When he beat her so badly she thought she might die, she escaped to seek a neighbor's help. To punish her for leaving without permission, her husband, who is a Taliban fighter, took her to a remote spot in the mountains. Several men held her while he cut off her nose, ears, and hair. She screamed—to no avail. "If I had the power, I would kill them all," she told me. I wanted to be strong for Aisha to give her hope she would be fine again. But when she described that moment, I began to cry. Aisha arrived in the U.S. in August for extensive reconstructive surgery. (credit:Lynsey Addario/National Geographic)
Daring To Drive(05 of06)
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With face, hair, and arms in full view, actress Trena Amiri chauffeurs a friend around Kabul on a Friday. She blasts her favorite songs off a cassette and shimmies and sings along, tapping the steering wheel as she dances in the driver's seat. Even in relatively progressive Kabul, men and women glare, honk, and scream at her. It provokes men in Afghanistan to see strong women. It symbolizes a freedom they just aren't comfortable with. Amiri fled her husband of seven years, who, she says, kept her home and beat her. She left her three sons behind. She doesn't plan to remarry but knows she might have to in order to survive in Afghanistan, where women are dependent on men for so many things. When I ask about her current boyfriend, whose name is on the gold bracelet around her wrist, she says she couldn't marry him: "He won't let me act anymore, and I want to continue my art." (credit:Lynsey Addario/National Geographic)
(06 of06)
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(credit:National Geographic)

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