They look like murder victims. In a certain sense, that’s what they are.
“Kabul’s mannequins, hooded and masked under Taliban rules,” by Ebrahim Noroozi, Associated Press, January 16, 2023:
KABUL, Afghanistan — Under the Taliban, the mannequins in women’s dress shops across the Afghan capital of Kabul are a haunting sight, their heads cloaked in cloth sacks or wrapped in black plastic bags.
The hooded mannequins are one symbol of the Taliban’s puritanical rule over Afghanistan. But in a way, they are also a small show of resistance and creativity by Kabul’s dress merchants.
Initially, the Taliban wanted the mannequins to be outright beheaded.
Not long after they seized power in August 2021, the Taliban Ministry of Vice and Virtue decreed that all mannequins must be removed from shop windows or their heads taken off, according to local media. They based the order on a strict interpretation of Islamic law that forbids statues and images of the human form since they could be worshipped as idols — though it also meshes with the Taliban’s campaign to force women out of the public eye….
In one shop, the mannequins’ heads were cloaked in tailored sacks made out of the same material as the traditional dresses they modeled. One, in a purple dress beaded with cowrie shells, had a matching purple hood. Another, in a red gown elaborately embroidered in gold, was almost elegant in a mask of red velvet with a gold crown on her head.
“I can’t cover the mannequins’ heads with plastic or ugly things because it would make my window and shop look ugly,” said Bashir, the owner. Like other owners, he spoke to The Associated Press on condition he be identified only by his first name for fear of reprisals.
Shop owners need keep things attractive — the economy has collapsed since the Taliban takeover and the ensuing cutoff of international financing, throwing almost the entire population into poverty.
Elaborate dresses have always been popular in Afghanistan for weddings, which even before the Taliban were usually gender-segregated, giving women a chance to dress in their finest in the country’s conservative society. Under the Taliban, weddings are one of the few remaining opportunities for social gatherings. But with incomes so strained, they have become less elaborate.
Bashir said his sales are half what they used to be.
“Buying wedding, evening and traditional dresses is no longer a priority for people,” he said. “People think more about getting food and surviving.”
Another shop owner, Hakim, shaped aluminum foil over his mannequins’ heads. It adds a certain flash to his merchandise, he decided.
“I made an opportunity out of this threat and ban and did it so the mannequins are even more attractive than before,” he said….
Wellington says
Religion at its worst and most ridiculous. Islam is simply superb in this regard, managing again and again to actually become a parody of itself. Hopefully mocking Islam out of existence will form a major part of its eventual marginalization to the extremes of human society. After all, Islam is so deserving here.
bill carr says
The ones in that picture have plastic bags. It just shows again that Muslim zealots value women only as sex objects and child bearers
somehistory says
mozlums…esp those who demand and dictate to the hordes…are very ignorant and backward and abusive, they likely believe this can happen…one of many videos of man touching mannequin …she turns into a real girl…and real girls must wear the ugly scarf of slavery to the hideous male lusts
https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=man+touches+mannequin&FORM=HDRSC3
Westman says
The Taliban are so paranoid/guilty about women wanting(and deserving) recognition and education,that they had to shut up the mannequins.
If you’re a Taliban man your home is your castle and you own everything and every serf in it. A Cave Man in pre-industrial disguise.
kq6kq6kq6 says
I’ve seen a lot of mannequins with no heads. I often wonder if this is the work of “the religion of peace.”
Scotsman48 says
Does the male mannequins also have no head or covered heads.
These Tali Boys sure seem to hate their Mothers.
However they sure love them wee Bachi Boys.
But the Western feminists seem to love them all just the same.
OLD GUY says
The POWER of a women must really scare the hell out of Islamic men. Their Islamic male leaders are afraid of just looking at a WOMENS face for fear that they might crumble in submission to the power of a WOMENS look.
Or do they just hate their MOTHERS for bringing them into this world?
tim gallagher says
What can you say!? islam is, in so many ways, so completely fucked up. That human being behave so stupidly as this is beyond belief.
Walter Sieruk says
If the Taliban would limit their oppressive tyranny of misogyny to mannequins than that would be rather mild behavior from them. The wicked reality is that the anti-female spirit and behavior of the Taliban started with women , in the most brutal , cruel and deadly ways , and they will contunie to do so.