Sons are preferred from girls
When they were out together, he walked alongside her, one hand gripping her by the elbow. For Laila, being out in the streets had become an exercise in
avoiding injury. Her eyes were still adjusting to the limited, grid like visibility of the burqa, her feet still stumbling over the hem.
She walked in perpetual fear of tripping and falling, of breaking an ankle stepping
into a pothole. Still, she found some comfort in the anonymity that the burqa
provided. She wouldnt be recognized this way if she ran into an old acquaintance of hers. She wouldnt have to watch the surprise in their eyes, or
the pity or the glee, at how far she had fallen, at how her lofty aspirations had been dashed Hosseini, 2008:225-226.
The quotation above shows Laila‟s feeling when she wears it. She feels weird to the limitation of the sight and her feet stumble over the hem. She also feels
uncomfortable to walk under the burqa. Despite the sufferings that she has to go through, Rasheed forces her to wear it. It is because in Rasheed‟s standpoint, a
husband has a right to control her wife with regards to her activities and even ideas. A good wife should keep her honor and pride for her husband by wearing
burqa. About thirty years later, it becomes a legal command from the Taliban, who
occupies the city, that all women in the country should wear burqa when they are outside their homes. They also forbid women to wear makeup, jewelry, charming
clothes, and painting their nails. Here is the Taliban rule over women‟s rights to dress up.
You will not, under any circumstance, show your face. You will cover with burqa when outside. If you do not, you will be severely beaten.
Cosmetics are forbidden. Jewelry is forbidden.
You will not wear charming clothes. You will not speak unless spoken to.
You will not make eye contact with men. You will not laugh in public. If you do, you will be beaten.
You will not paint your nails. If you do, you will lose a finger
Hosseni, 2008:271.
The Taliban also includes the punishment if women break the rule. They will beat women for not wearing burqa and cut their fingers for painting their nails. The
rule limits women from expressing themselves and being as beautiful as they want. Under the burqa, women are nothing but the walking corpses with dark
color. They are neither women nor human.