Women of Kabul take the wheel in brave new drive for sexual equality

[Crackingham]

Kabul's chaotic roads are used to plodding camel-carts, smoke-belching lorries, and four-by-fours packed with armed men threatening road rage. Now they have a new, and for Afghan motorists, truly exotic sight: women drivers.

A few brave females have shed their burqas to venture into the driving seat - for decades here the ultimate preserve of the macho Afghan male - thanks to the tuition of a mechanic-turned-instructor who has opened the city's first driving school for women. Delawar Mamozai struck upon the revolutionary idea of teaching women to drive several years ago, and after teaching just one woman in the first five years of his venture he has had a flood of students in the past few months.

"It's not easy for women to learn how to drive in Kabul," he admitted in his grubby classroom, filled with dismembered engine parts and road signs pinned to the walls as teaching aids. "They feel embarrassed and shy when they start, and get a lot of whistles. People shout at them and drivers try to block the cars with their own vehicles. It takes some courage for a woman to go out on the roads the first time."

Mr Mamozai proudly shows off a certificate he grants after 36 hours tuition, with a slot for the student's name, after Mr or Ms. He has taught about 60 women to drive in the past six months, ignoring the taunts of disgruntled male friends who believe women should not be allowed to drive themselves.

http://news.independent.co.uk/world/asia/story.jsp?story=601091

[JohnLocke]

1. Excellent!

:toast: :party: :toast: :party: :toast:

[CottonBear]

2. Good going ladies!

I'm sure Kabul is a hell of a place to drive, especially as a new driver. It's hard to imagine living in a society like Saudi Arabia where one can't drive .

[NYC]

3. Some of those women must have driven in the past,

when the Soviets were there.

Women in Afghanistan had college degrees, wore mini skirts, etc. It's hard to believe that many of those same women are now hidden behind burquas.

[jdj]

4. it's a freaking fucking nightmare.

So much can change in less than half a century.

Thank God for the fundies here, who want to oppress you but still want to check our your ass.