“The old Afghan expression zan, zar waa, zamin summarizes the ever-present threat against men’s personal property, which was always the main reason for taking up arms: Women. Gold. And land. In that order.” — Jenny Nordberg Copy Share Image
“Afghanistan, believed by anthropologists to be one of the original historical meeting places between the East and the West, has in fact seen and… — Jenny Nordberg Copy Share Image
“I hear her smiling when she describes her outfit: “I made myself fashionable. And diplomatic. They all took my picture. The BBC, Voice of… — Jenny Nordberg Copy Share Image
“In Afghanistan, not much is for certain other than an open sky and eventual death. In between the two is family.” — Jenny Nordberg Copy Share Image
“Since many donor countries required development projects—from agriculture to politics—to consider specifically how the lives of Afghan women were to be improved, Kabul had… — Jenny Nordberg Copy Share Image
“The harem could not be supervised by men because they posed a potential threat to the women’s chastity and the king’s bloodline. These women… — Jenny Nordberg Copy Share Image
“Nancy had neither seen nor heard of girls who dressed as boys and could think of no documentation on the topic through all her… — Jenny Nordberg Copy Share Image
“Tell me,” I ask Siddiqua, “what is the secret to being married for so long?” She looks at me like I am clueless. “It’s… — Jenny Nordberg Copy Share Image
“She could be dismissed as a dokhtar zai, or “she who only brings daughters.” Still, this is not as grave an insult as what… — Jenny Nordberg Copy Share Image
“Those hundreds of “gender projects” funded by aid money might have been more effective if they had also included men. The fact that Westerners… — Jenny Nordberg Copy Share Image
“In Pashto, Afghanistan’s second official language, there is even a deprecating name for a man who has no sons: He is a meraat, referring… — Jenny Nordberg Copy Share Image
“It is not just a human rights argument, it is the Warren Buffett argument and the Christine Lagarde argument: Countries that want to develop… — Jenny Nordberg Copy Share Image
“Louis Duprée described this contradiction in his work on Afghanistan: “Islam, in essence, is not a backward, anti-progressive, anti-modern religion, although many of its… — Jenny Nordberg Copy Share Image
