37 pages • 1 hour read
Gayle Tzemach LemmonThe Dressmaker of Khair Khana: Five Sisters, One Remarkable Family, and the Woman Who Risked Everything to Keep Them Safe
Nonfiction | Autobiography / Memoir | Adult | Published in 2011A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
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The Oppression of Women
The narrative begins just before the arrival of the Taliban, allowing for a contrast between two systems of government. Once the Taliban take over, the women rapidly begin to see their civil liberties curtailed. The juxtaposition is clear, so much so that many of the women do not even own the type of veil that they now need to wear. The oppression of women is linked to the Taliban’s role as the antagonists: It is women who live in fear from the regime, women who are beaten in the street for minor indiscretions, and women who find themselves taking great risks in order to feed their families.
While the book takes a dim view of the Taliban, there are clear distinctions made between the Taliban’s oppression of women and the role of women within the faith of Islam. At numerous points in the book, it is stated that it is the Taliban's niche and punitive interpretation of the Qur’an that informs their implementation of sharia law. This criticism is not extended to all of Islam. Indeed, almost every character in the text is a Muslim: Accordingly, Muslim women are the greatest victims of the Taliban’s oppressive regime. The sisters wake up and pray every day. They teach and attend religious classes. Kamila prays every time she finds herself in a difficult moment. Islam is not an oppressive force in the book. Rather, it is an aid to those in need and a way to bring together an oppressed community.
It is this community that delivers the greatest rebuke to the Taliban’s oppression of women. Led by Kamila, the women in Kabul gather and discover new paths toward self-sufficiency. They work hard to provide for their families. At first, this is out of desperation; then, it is almost as though they are purposefully thumbing their nose at the Taliban’s rules. The oppression of women is shown to be utterly futile. Indeed, it has the opposite effect and serves to bring together the women of Kabul and instill in them a determination and an independence that they previously did not possess.
The Possibilities of Entrepreneurship
As the stranglehold of the Taliban grows tighter, the entrepreneurial spirit begins to take hold among the women of Kabul. As Kamila notices one day when she is riding a bus, nearly every woman on board has started a business at home in a desperate attempt to make ends meet. The ultimate irony of the Taliban’s oppressive laws is that they have forced the city’s women to fashion their own independence and open their eyes to the massive possibilities of entrepreneurship.
Kamila is a natural entrepreneur, also searching for a new business idea and always seeking to expand her current venture. Her skills grow exponentially, from a single dress made in her sister's house to a fully-fledged clothing empire in the city of Kabul. She has setbacks along the way, but she trusts in the process of what she is doing and eventually succeeds. Indeed, her entrepreneurial sensibilities are recognized by international organizations, and she is recruited by the United Nations, but she does not stop there. Always searching for new opportunities, she goes to Washington DC and all over the world seeking out new ways to help her community. By the end of the book, she is turning down very lucrative offers to remain as entrepreneurial as possible.
Kamila’s success is not only evident in her increased wage and global profile, however. Instead, her real success is her ability to kindle the entrepreneurial spirit in others. She transforms the small dressmaking business belonging to her sister, increasing her fame and her orders. After departing Kabul, she leaves behind a litany of women who have been inspired to become entrepreneurs. Sara is an example of this: She starts her own dressmaking business and is successful enough to support her sons as they attend college. All the girls who pass through the tailoring school see firsthand the benefits and possibilities of entrepreneurship, and they form the real legacy that Kamila left behind.
The Isolation of Afghanistan
From the opening chapters, the geopolitical importance of the country is made apparent: Afghanistan took on the Soviet Empire and won. Indeed, the country has a historical reputation as being the “graveyard of empires,” a place where powers that are seemingly greater and more powerful come undone. However, the beginning of the book describes a country that is left well alone. The withdrawal of the Soviets has left a power vacuum and, just as Kamila graduates, a new local power enters Kabul: the Taliban. As awful as the Taliban seems, however, they are a local issue. Without the Soviets, the world forgets about Afghanistan, and it becomes isolated once again.
As Kabul’s economy collapses and the inhabitants struggle to find food, this isolation is emphasized. Foreign aid organizations are referred to, but they are shown to be ineffective and inconsequential. Afghanistan is left alone by the world, left to suffer under the Taliban. As such, the Afghan people will be forced to suffer alone, too. Afghanis depart for distant countries and rarely return. They travel to Pakistan and Iran, countries that seem as though they are thousands of miles away. There is little that can be done in a global sense; the world has abandoned Afghanistan, and it is up to the citizens to fare for themselves.
As if to emphasize this middle passage isolation, however, the book ends with two examples of foreign intervention. The first is the United Nations organization that offers Kamila a job. It is only by working hard for several years that she lands such a position, reflecting the limited scope of the UN’s work in the country; it is not an opportunity that is available to everyone, and it still comes with great risks. The second foreign intervention ends the isolation of Afghanistan: Following the 9/11 attacks, the United States occupies the country.
