Reference no: EM133564880

Discussion Post: The Dressmaker of Khair Khana

I. Kamila and her sisters are living in a very stressful and difficult time. Apply what you learned in the lesson on Resilience to write two paragraphs reflecting on the following:

1. What strategies do they use to stay positive and focused?
2. How do these align with what we know about resilience?
3. Are the strategies they use similar to or different from strategies used by people in other memoirs we have read, or people you have interviewed?

II. Kamila and her sisters choose not to actively resist the Taliban, and to present the appearance that they were living within their rules. Write two paragraphs reflecting on this choice to conform to an external constraint. As you craft your answer, be sure to reflect on the following:

1. Why do you think they choose this strategy?
2. Why might this be considered a good choice, and conversely, why might it be considered a bad choice?
3. What do you think you would have done, if you were in their situation?

III. While externally conforming, Kamila and her sisters were acting as strong, independent, entrepreneurial women. This did not match the ideology of the Taliban. Using Kamila's situation as an example, write two paragraphs reflecting on the concept of agency within constraints from the lesson on Resilience. As you craft your answer, be sure to think about the following:

1. Did Kamila conform to an externally imposed social structure, or did she exhibit agency? Can people be doing both at the same time?
2. Can you think of other memoirs, interviewees, or experiences in which people were conforming and resisting simultaneously?
3. How does grappling with this contradiction influence your understanding of agency within constraints?

IV. Think about the way Kamila is nested within a variety of contexts - her family relationships, her friendship relationships, her professional relationships... This is Kamila's social network. Write two paragraphs reflecting on the way her social network influenced her outcomes. As you think about this, be sure to consider the following:

1. How did Kamila use her social network to stay safe and build her business?
2. How did she expand her social network in ways that helped her?
3. Did her social network ever burden her or hinder her progress?

V. The author describes the changes in women's roles and freedoms that occurred in Afghanistan, from a time when women wore mini-skirts to a time when they wore the full chadora. We often think of "culture" as stable, but clearly there were competing cultural ideals. Apply what you have learned about cultural maintenance and cultural change (in the lesson on Culture) to reflect on the cultural changes described by Kamila. As you craft your two paragraphs, be sure to consider:

1. How did these cultural changes come about?
2. Did the "culture" really change, or was the change simply in people's external behavior?
3. Does the cultural change described follow the theory of cultural change described in Lesson: Exploring Culture? Why or why not?
4. What can we learn about how and why cultures change from this memoir?

VI. As the book ends, Kamila has decided to focus her efforts on creating jobs. She feels this is a critical component to help her country become stable and to help women increase their independence. Human development students sometimes shy away from economic discussions, but let's spend a little time thinking about the role that jobs play in people's lives. Write a two paragraph response after reflecting on the following questions:

1. Is work one of the necessary components of a good life? Why or why not? Remember to think about jobs in terms of financial need and self-actualization.

2. Select one of the other books that we have read this semester. What role does the availability of work, and decent pay, play in the lives of the people in the book? How is that similar or different from the role it plays in The Dressmaker?

VII. Gender has played a large role in the last two books - The Dressmaker and She's Not There. Write two paragraphs in which you compare and contrast the way gender norms and expectations influence the central people in these two books. As you craft your answer, think about:

1. How do gender norms and expectations influence the choices available to, and made by, Kamila and Jennifer? In which ways are they similar? In which ways are they different?

2. Does gender feel like a defining characteristic in these two books, compared to race, ethnicity, or socioeconomic status? Why or why not?