Between Modernity and Tradition: How Afghan Women Successfully De-identify from Gender Norms and Negotiate Opportunity Structures for Empowerment

Abstract

This research explores the question: How did certain Kabul women de-identify from the social and gender norms of the larger social structure in which they operate, while successfully negotiating opportunity structures for empowerment? The data presented in this paper gives voice to several Kabul women who are among the few that tend to be held up as examples of how far Afghan women have come on the path to empowerment and equality. It argues that their experiences and accomplishments are anomalies among Afghan women, and attempts to uncover the reasons why these women were able to successfully fight considerable resistance, and overcome huge obstacles on the way to becoming successful, prominent, empowered women when to date, few women have been able to do so.