The video on the girls attacked by Taliban militia forces is better evaluated and understood under post-modernism feminist theory. The post-modern feminist theory has busied itself in understanding the ‘outdated’ cultural practices that have continued to deprive women their rights. The patriarchal nature of many societies in the 21st century has by far delayed social-cultural and economic development among women. This is very evident in the manner in which women have been denied access to education in many parts of the Middle East and in Taliban to be more precise.
The Taliban forces unleashed acid attack on the school girls not because they hated women but believe that girls who attend school are unholy. In Taliban, women are nurtured to believe that the otherwise tumultuous socio-economic aspects of politics, leadership, commerce, military and education should be left to their male counterparts. The Taliban forces use scare tactics and unleash terror on girls in order to deter them from receiving education.
While it is arguable that the girls will not give up going to school, it is true that fear has permanently been instilled in their young minds. They have sustained life-long injuries and scars that remind them of their struggle in liberating themselves from the claws of oppressive Taliban cultures. Women in Taliban have been suppressed and their fate is in the hands of males. The few who are victims of such attacks serve as living sources of fright among the rest of the women.
To conclude, it is true that females in Taliban are struggling to achieve the objectives of the post-modern feminism of rising above males and getting an equal playing ground in socio-economic and cultural platforms. However, the price that comes with it is too high. Males, as represented by Taliban forces, remain the self-appointed custodians of the retrogressive culture. Little Zahira and her friends are victims of a retrogressive culture.
