Freedom

= = =Freedom is a necessity to life that everyone should be granted. People should be granted the liberty to speak freely, think freely, and above all live freely. In a system where no one can be themselves, identity is lost, and people fail to grow. Laws must be implicated to prevent total chaos, yet where is the fine line that divides an organized government from a cruel regime?= = = = = =Does the definition of freedom change based on personal experiences?=

Freedom can be perceived differently by everyone around the world due to the fact that people are given various degrees of freedom. People have forgotten that freedom is not necessarily having the power to do what you want but rather the desire to do what you can. How freedom is viewed changes from person to person and even culture to culture. The personal experiences that occur throughout one's life can dramatically alter how freedom is viewed. In America, it is very common for people to take for granted all the privileges that are allowed in this country. The United States does not have rules or laws intended to suppress the people. Since Americans have not had a great deal of exposure to oppression, freedom is easily pushed to the side, and written off as just another aspect that comes along with being an American.

However, in the Middle East, freedom is a rare occasion. Women and girls are constantly being controlled in every aspect of their lives. Women are not to be educated and are not allowed to obtain jobs outside the household. In fact, even stepping out of the house without a man is punishable. Women must have their entire bodies covered at all times with a piece of clothing called a [|burka]. Some women view this as freeing from being viewed as sex objects, but most women view it as suffocating, leaving no room for freedom of expression. Burkas can lead to health problems because women are not getting enough sunlight and according to some women they create atmospheres that show nothing but male dominance and a society where women are not able to think for themselves. Today, many movements are being made by women to attempt to gain the freedoms that belong rightfully to every human being. For more insight from some Afghan women, click [|here].

Osama[[image:file:women%20in%20middle%20east.jpg]]
It is evident that the Middle Eastern culture definitely has an oppressed view on freedom.The liberties that are given are limited and restricted; especially when it comes to women.In the movie [|http://www.unitedartists.com/osama/#|Osama], it is very clear to see how women's freedoms are scarce. From the very first scene of the movie, people are able to witness how women are treated.

The scene starts out with women protesting in the streets. These women were trying to receive work, yet the protest ends with the women running in fear and being blasted by a fire hose. From this experience, it can be assumed that women would feel trapped, or maybe even imprisoned by their own country. The [|Taliban] have a strict rule over everyone who lives in the town. The Taliban's cruel regime forces Osama to support her family. Mentioned above was the fact that women are not allowed to leave the house without a man. This rule applies to Osama as well. She must lead a secret life due to her lack of freedom. As the movie progresses it shows that women are often taken advantage of and almost rapped in a sense. Osama was sold to a man that already had multiple wives and she was rapped while only being fifteen years old. The meaning of freedom for Osama would be significantly different from most people, at least far more different from the opinions of Americans. In America, freedom has already been fought for by our founding fathers, yet there are still people in the world having to still fight for theirs. Freedom isn't taken for granted when you have to fight for it.

My Forbidden Face
Freedom is a crucial concept in the book __My Forbidden Face.__ This book really highlights how fast freedom can be taken away. The main focus is on woman's rights. Before the Taliban invaded Afghanistan, women led fairly normal lives. They had jobs, went to school, and could walk the streets freely. After the Taliban invaded, freedom ceased to exist. In the book, a young girl named Latifa leads a fairly normal life. She goes to school, her mom is a doctor, and her brothers and sisters are free to do as they please. All of this changed once the Taliban invaded. Freedom seemed to be abolished once the Taliban implemented their rules and regulations. Latifa could no longer go to school, and her mother and sister could no longer work anymore. Women's rights were basically stripped away from them. Forced to stay at home and cover up when they were out made women seem unimportant and unwanted. They were being treated more like objects rather than human beings. The book __My Forbidden Face__ really demonstrates how quickly freedom can be taken from someone. The saying, "You never really know what you got until it's gone" is clearly shown in this book. Freedom did not hold as much value until it was gone. The strenuous procees of trying to adjust to a new life without the freedom to say what you want, go where you want, or do what you want to do is an evident theme that is shown through out the book.

The Kite Runner
The ideas of freedom are expressed differently in the novel, __The Kite Runner__. At times some emphasis on the freedoms of women are touched on, but the main group of people that were not given equal freedoms as everyone else were the [|Hazara] people, members of a low class of society. These people were taken advantage of, treated as slaves, rapped and beaten by members of the higher class or by the Taliban. More specifically, Hassan, a Hazara and Amir's friend, was never treated as an equal. He had to wait on his friend hand and foot, he was never allowed to be educated, he was rapped because he stood up for Amir against some bullies, and later he was shot in the back of his head right in front of his house for no probable reason at all. His son, Sorab, was left without parents at a young age and he too was rapped later by members of the Taliban. __The Kite Runner__ illustrates the fact that the lost of freedoms lied within the Hazara people too. They had to fight for what was right and to be treated fairly. The struggle of gaining freedom of thought, education, and life was exemplified throughout this story.

Freedom of Sexual Preference
An article was printed about gay men in Saudi Arabia. In this article it stated that to be gay in Saudi Arabia is to live a contradiction. Although there are many gay people living in Saudi Arabia, to be silent about it is a rule of survival. Acknowledging homosexuality in Saudi Arabia goes against the teachings of Islam. Yet it is because of the strict rules of the Qua'ran that men feel the need to be intimate with one another. According to the sacred book, men and women are not to have any intimate relations unless they are married. In a sense, men seek one another not necessarily to be homosexual but more to fill a desire. Homosexuality is definately a taboo subject that lurks in many middle eastern countries, especially Saudi Arabia. The limited amount of freedom given to Islam followers forces men to have lead this double-life. Since homosexuality is frowned upon in Saudi Arabia, many men are forced to stay in the closet about it, fearing that they will bring shame or dishonor to their family. Although this situation is tragic, it continues to persist in the Middle East.

Bibliography:
"Burka." Wikipedia. 2008. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. 23 Apr 2008 <[|http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burka>.]

"Afghan women shed their burqas." BBC News 20 Nov 2001 23 Apr 2008 <[|http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/1666139.stm>.]

The Taliban." Infoplease. © 2000–2007 Pearson Education, publishing as Infoplease. 23 Apr. 2008 

"Hazara People." Wikipedia. 2008. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. 23 Apr 2008 

__Osama__. Dir. Siddiq Barnak. Perf. Marina Golbahari, Arif Herati, Zubaida Sahar, and Mohamad Nader Khadjeh. DVD. MGM, 2004.

Hosseini, Khaled. __The Kite Runner__. New York, New York: The Berkley Publishing Company, 2003.

Shekeba, Hachemi. Latifa. __My Forbidden Face.__ New York, New York: Hyperion, 2001.