Some Thoughts on Afghanistan

All this talk about “the Taliban” all being extreme misogynists has me puzzled.

They are a group of men (albeit a very large group) just like any group of men and, just as with any other group, their views and actions will vary according to their personality and their exposure to the various cultural norms of the society in which they were raised, according to how much or how little they identify with them.

It’s an undeniable fact that extreme misogynists exist within every race, culture, religion etc., in the world. Just think about what happened in Bristol recently or the stories which emerge regularly of women being kept prisoner in their homes or men ruling their families according to their interpretation of biblical writings often reinforced by beatings “for the good of their souls”. And it’s not just men, many women hold extreme beliefs on what is acceptable behaviour within their families and communities often using very derogatory terms and advocating horrendous punishments for women they see as not meeting their standards.

As for what is happening in Afghanistan; the ease with which the Taliban apparently overran the country shows that they were there all the time. All these years of occupation by the west, all the expenditure on supposedly ‘bringing democracy’ to the country, all the fighting, killing and dying, have made not one bit of difference.

These men didn’t just suddenly pop up out of nowhere; they have been there all along, living their lives, raising their families, part of their communities. Some good, some bad and every stage in between, just like any other group of people.

In the short term there will probably be violence and atrocities, especially in areas most strongly influenced by western occupation, carried out by those with more extreme views as they seek to root out what they see as the unacceptable views and behaviours encouraged by the former occupiers. This will, of course, be quite horrifying for those affected and I sincerely hope that as many as possible of those who might suffer in this way manage to get to places of safety.

However, outside of the westernised areas (and inside for those who only had low level interaction with the occupiers) life will mostly carry on as usual. There may be some tightening up of religious observance and some may find life more restrictive but I honestly doubt that formerly loving husbands, fathers and sons will suddenly start acting like tyrants just because the Taliban are in power. They may, of course, counsel their female relatives to be more careful in what they say and do, because as everyone one knows, every community, wherever you are in the world, has its share of those who like the feelings of satisfaction and superiority they get from making trouble for others.

But in the wider community, away from the centres of power, it’s probable that nothing much will change at all.