In poverty and strife, Afghan women test limits

Name: Jane Liu (49712038)
Reaction Article#2
Date: 10/10/2008
From: International Herald Tribune

In poverty and strife, Afghan women test limits
(http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/10/06/asia/06bamian.php?page=1)

My Reactions:
I think that women living in conservative society are very poor because they don’t have any freedom to decide or choose what they want. They are deprived from accepting education and the freedom to choose who they want to marry. Women’s lives there are miserable. They are always forced to marry to someone they even never see before or have a under-age marriage. They often die when young because of the pregnancy. The life expectancy of women is only 45 years. Men there can live longer than women. However, in Taiwan, the situation is opposite.
It’s not fair at all. Women have done many things for men, but they cannot get anything in return. I think I am so lucky that we all live in a fairer country and we don’t have that much gender discrimination. We girls can choose what lives we want to live, what kinds of education we want to accept, opt what kinds of jobs we want to have, and select who we want to spend our rest lives with. We have much more freedom than those women do. And most important of all, we won’t be regarded as goods. In our country, regardless of men or women, we all will be looked upon as human beings. Everyone has the same importance.
After reading this article, I think that women should not look down upon themselves. Instead, they need try their best to do what they want and get what they desire for. Women should not still be housekeepers, and they should go out looking for jobs then working with men, helping each other. Only we find a balance between men and women can we together create a greater world .(308 words)