Fri, Oct 22, 2021 page4

• Beauty salon a women’s haven in the Taliban’s Kabul

  • AFP, KABUL
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  It is one of the last places in Kabul where women can meet outside their households, a bubble of freedom and even frivolity away from the gaze of men.

  Mohadessa has kept her beauty salon open, despite threats from Afghanistan’s new rulers. Since the Taliban seized Kabul in mid-August, many women have disappeared from public spaces, driven into private areas out of fear and sometimes very real threats.

  However, Mohadessa’s beauty salon has, for now, remained a place where women can relax among themselves outside the household and share their woes — or forget them in favor of fun and fashion.

  

  A woman applies makeup on a customer at a beauty salon in Kabul on Monday.

  Photo: AFP

  The oasis provides income for the staff and moments of indulgence for the clients, but its days might be numbered.

  “We don’t want to give up and stop working,” the 32-year-old entrepreneur said over the hubbub of women getting ready for a wedding celebration.

  “We love that we have a job, and it is necessary for women to work in Afghan society — many of them are the breadwinners for their family,” Mohadessa said.

  Customers are dropped off outside, and whisked past posters advertising fashion and beauty brands that are now blotted out with white paint.

  They quickly disappear into the shop through a heavy curtain.

  Once inside, the women shed their headscarves and outer garments, and their excited voices compete with the hum of hairdryers as they choose their new looks.

  The last time the Taliban ruled Afghanistan, women were obliged to wear a burqa. Under the Islamist movement’s interpretation of Shariah law, beauty salons were banned outright. Just having painted nails meant that a woman could risk having her fingers cut off.

  However, since the Taliban returned to the capital and declared their Islamic Emirate, the movement has been at pains to present a more liberal face to the world. Eager to secure international finance to head off economic disaster that could undermine their war gains, they have not rushed to reimpose restrictions on daily life.

  That is not to say that Mohadessa has not received threats. A Taliban mob has shouted abuse outside her shop, but she has made use of the legal limbo to continue.

  On a recent visit, about 30 women had braved the climate of fear to come to the shop and prepare for a wedding, where the sexes are traditionally segregated during celebrations.

  The women were enjoying the rare chance to dress up and pamper themselves, with elaborate hair and eyelash decorations complementing a colorful makeup palette.

  The bride’s sister, English teacher Farkhunda, gazed at the results of an hour-long makeover.

  “Yes, it’s nice. It’s beautiful. It’s my first real day out since the end of August,” she said cheerfully.

  However, under the splash of glittery eye shadow, one of her pupils is immobile, taken during a gun and bomb attack when she was a teenager.

  “You see my eye? I lost it on my way to school when the Taliban attacked us, but I am not scared of them. I don’t want to talk about them. Today is for celebration,” she said.

  Some of the women dream of leaving, while others dream of change.

  Farkhunda hoped that she could get back to work, while Mohadessa, determined to stay open, feared for her life.

  She had received a letter that she believed came from the Taliban’s Ministry for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, warning her to close down.

  Her response: “Until they come and put a knife to my throat, I’m staying here.”
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