clothes which completely covers their body except for seeing and breathing.
Therefore, it makes them difficult to move and walk Ellis, 2000: 20. These
rules make Parvana, Shauzia and Nooria desperate to see a better future for them. These cause them to be reluctant and even completely passive to struggle
to create any changes.
3. Dependency
Dependency is a state when someone cannot do something with his or her own capability. This person only can rely on other people to live their life. In
regard to the harms of gender inequality to female children in Taliban society, the tight regulation Taliban people made to limit them in doing some activities
makes them to be dependent on men. Men are the ones who can go outside and work. If women want to go outside of their houses, they should escorted by
men Ellis, 2000: 89. Even when there are no men, they depend on someone
who disguise as a man or a boy. Taliban rules really place men in the higher hie
rarchy compared to women. Therefore, women and girls’ dependency to men is significantly big.
The first dependency of female children in Taliban society is represented by this datum:
“Nooria never goes for water, nor does Mother. Maryam doesn’t, either. She doesn’t have to do anything”
Parvana knew she was mumbling nonsense, but she kept it up anyway. Maryam was only five, and she couldn’t carry an empty bucket
downstairs, let alone a full bucket upstairs. Mother and Nooria had to wear burqas whenever they went outside, and they couldn’t carry a pail of water
up those uneven broken stairs if they were wearing burqas. Plus, it was dangerous for women to go outside without a man.” Ellis, 2000: 20
It explains that female children in Parvana’s family are not able to fetch the water. They should wear burqa, a piece of clothes which completely cover
their body, except at the eyes and the nose. They will hardly walk to get the water up the high floor. Moreover, women and girls are forbidden to go
outside. The Taliban soldiers can catch and punish them whenever they notice women and girls. As a result, the only one who can fetch the water is Parvana
since her father, the only man in her family, has lost one of his legs. She does not seem to have a body like woman because she is still small. Therefore,
everyone including Nooria and Maryam rely on her to fetch the water. Parvana understand this condition, so she always fetches the water even though she
complains. It is acceptable since Parvana is still too young to be burdened by all family’s members.
Nooria shows another dependency on Parvana when their family have food in their house. Nooria asks Parvana to get them food.
The room began to smell, too. “We have to save water,” Nooria said, so washing and cleaning didn’t get done. Ali’s dirty diapers were piled in a
heap in the washroom. The little window didn’t open very far. No breeze could get into the room to blow the stink away.
On the fourth day, the food ran out. “We’re out of food,” Nooria told Parvana. Ellis, 2000: 51
The datum only shows that Nooria tells Parvana if they no longer have no food in their house. Yet, it actually implies another meaning. Nooria does not
only let Parvana know about that, but she also intends to ask Parvana to go out to look for the foods for their family. Nooria realizes that she is unable to go
outside, so she expects her sister to get the foods for her and the rest of the family. Nooria can only depend on Parvana in order to survive.
Nooria’s dependency is also represented by other behavior. It is shown by the quotation below:
Nooria saw only Parvana at first. She took the nan from her. “Is this all you bought? Where’s the rice? Where’s the tea? How are we supposed to
manage with just this?” “Don’t be too hard on her. She was chased out of the market before she
could complete her shopping.” Mrs. Weera stepped into the room and took off her burqa. Ellis, 2000: 58
It implies Nooria’s complaint to Parvana because she only manages to buy some food which is insufficient to the family. Complaining is the only thing
that Nooria can do instead of taking the real actions. Complaining signifies Nooria’s big dependency on Parvana. If Nooria is independent, she will try to
buy the foods by her own efforts. Furthermore, she will not get angry to Parvana because she can cope with the problem by her own capability. Since
Nooria does nothing to solve the problem of food, she depends on Parvana’s full efforts to solve it. Therefore, she easily gets mad when Parvana does not
get the expected foods. The other dependency is shown by Parvana’s action of being the escort for
her family. Nooria, Maryam and Ali finally can go outside of their house because they are escorted by Parvana who disguise as a boy.
Business had good days and bad days. Sometimes Parvana would sit for hours without a customer. She made less money than her father had, but
the family was eating, even though most days they ate just nan and tea. The children seemed livelier than they had in a long time. The daily sun
and fresh air were doing them a lot of good, although Nooria said they were harder to look after now in the room. They had more energy and
always wanted to go outside, which they couldn’t do when Parvana was out at work. Ellis, 2000: 91
Parvana’s sisters and brother enjoy their time to go outside. They are so happy to be able to enjoy the sunshine and the fresh air outside the room. These
activities are only can be done if Parvana becomes their escort. Parvana who disguise herself as a boy is justifiable to be the escort of women and girls. It is
safe to have a boy to walk outside with them because the Taliban will not punish them. Therefore, Nooria and Maryam are so dependent on Parvana who
disguises as boy to go outside. If there is no Parvana, they simply keep staying inside the room.
B. Parvana’s Struggles against Gender Inequality in Taliban Society
