Kite Runner Through the Feminist Theory: Blog 4 assignment

When I read the Kite Runner through the feminist lens I realized that I had to think more and try to understand the text in a whole different way because I am a man and I don't know what women go through. Women in the Kite Runner are treated with no respect and have no rights. Only in America, the reader can see the difference between Afghan women and American women. when I have finished the novel I understood that men where appearing superior in the text both in Afghanistan and America. Secondly, the novel is riddled with gender inequality, and lastly, there is a lot of gender stereotypes throughout the book for both men and women.

Superior Sex:

In the novel, it is very evident that men are seen as the superior sex. Women throughout the novel are seen as lesser beings and are treated with no respect. If you take a deeper look into the text you will also realize that all the main characters are men."I cringed a little at the position of power I'd been granted. And all because I had won at the genetic lottery that had determined my sex" (Hosseini 148-149). It seems very clear that everyone knew that men have more power than women in both America and Afghanistan. Amir knew that he had power as a little boy because he was born a boy. This ideology is plain out wrong and disgusting. 

Gender Inequality: 

In today's world, we try to make it a better place for everyone and that everyone should be treated with respect. It doesn't seem like everything is truly equal but there is an effort being made. In The Kite, Runner women are seen as objects and there are double standards at play."Their sons go out to nightclubs looking for meat and get their girlfriends pregnant, they have kids out of wedlock and no one says a goddamn thing. Oh, they're just men having fun! I make one mistake and suddenly everyone is talking" (179). Soraya was raised in America but still knows the Afghanistan double standards where a man can make the same mistake as a woman but he doesn't have to deal with it but women do. Men like Assef don't get punished for their actions because they are males but a woman would get punished for looking at her father in the eyes. 

Gender Stereotypes:

So far we have talked about women not being treated fairly but some men have to deal with stereotypes. If a man gets accused of a rape he gets his life ruined even if he is proven innocent. some people still think that all men are bad which is totally wrong. In the novel, we can see that Amir is trying to be like Baba but they have nothing in common. Everyone wants Amir to be "Strong, Brave, and Successful" because that's what a "man" has to be."Then I saw Baba do something that I had never seen him do before: He cried. It scared me little, seeing a grown man sob. Fathers weren't supposed to cry" (Hosseini 107). Amir was so surprised that his dad cried since he had always thought that men aren't allowed to cry which shows how people want to see men as cold emotionless people. I feel that the novel has really opened me up to a lot more and that I feel we must all be equal since God made both men and women be equal.