My Forbidden Face: Growing Up Under the Taliban: A Young Woman's Story [Hardcover]

Latifa (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 13, 2002

An astonishing first-hand account of a young womans life lived under the tyranny of the Taliban.Born into a middle-class Afghan family in Kabul in 1980, Latifa spent her teenage days talking fashion and movies with her friends, listening to music, and dreaming of one day becoming a journalist. Then, on September 26, 1996, Taliban soldiers seized power in Kabul. Suddenly, streets were deserted. Her school was closed. Phones were cut. The radio fell silent. And from that moment, Latifa, just sixteen years old, became a prisoner in her own home. The simplest and most basic freedomslike walking down the street alone or even looking out of a windowwere forbidden. Latifa had never worn a veil before, but was now forced to be swathed in a chadri, the state-mandated uniform that covered her entire body. Her disbelief at having to hide her face was soon replaced by fear, the fear of being whipped or stoned like the other women shed seen in the streets.Latifa struggled against an overwhelming sense of helplessness and despair. In a step of defiance, she set up a clandestine school in her home for a small number of young girls. To avoid arousing suspicion, the children were not allowed to attend every day, nor could they keep regular hours. Latifa knew that she was risking her life for something that could change little. But the teaching gave her a reason to get up in the morning, it helped restore meaning in her life. Latifa eventually escaped to Europe with her parents.My Forbidden Face provides a poignant and highly personal account of life under the Taliban regime. With painful honesty and clarity, Latifa describes her ordered world falling apart, in the name of fanaticism that she could not comprehend, and replaced by a world where terror and oppression reign. Latifa and her parents escaped Afghanistan in May 2001 and were brought to Europe in an operation organized by a French-based Afghan resistance group and Elle Magazine. Since then she has been writing My Forbidden Face in collaboration with Chekeba Hachemi, the founder of Afghanistan Libre. They both live in Paris. This is her first book.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Readers who want to know what life was really like when the Taliban ruled Kabul should turn off CNN and read this book. Latifa (who writes under a pseudonym) was a 16-year-old aspiring journalist when her brother rushed home one day in late 1996 with word that the white flag of the Taliban flew over their school and mosque. She writes, "We knew the Taliban were not far away... but no one truly believed they would manage to enter Kabul." The bizarre edicts of the women-suppressing regime slowly become a reality: women weren't allowed outside the home unless they were shrouded in a "chadri" (which covers the face and arms, unlike a burka, which covers the entire body and according to Latifa is worn only in distant provinces) and accompanied by a male relative. "A girl is not allowed to converse with a young man. Infraction of this law will lead to the immediate marriage of the offenders." No wearing of bright colors or lipstick; no medical care from a male doctor. And women doctors were not allowed to work, essentially cutting off medical care for women. Latifa's story puts a face on these now-familiar rules, and conveys the sheer boredom of the lively teenager-turned-hermit and the desperation of not knowing if she'll ever complete her education in such an upside-down world. Despite its rushed ending (the family fled to France in May 2001 with the help of French Elle) and the occasional reminder that the author is now only 22 (there's talk of Madonna, Brooke Shields, fashion and Indian films), this memoir is one instance where a thousand words are worth more than any picture.
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

Latifa was only 16 when the Taliban overran Kabul, changing her life dramatically. On the morning of September 26, 1996--the day the Taliban took Kabul--Latifa, her sister, Soraya, and their father drove to Aryana Square and saw the body of the murdered former president, Najibullah. The Taliban began issuing edicts, forbidding women to leave their houses without a close male relative to escort them; forcing them to wear chadris, which cover their entire bodies; and refusing to allow them to work. Latifa, Soraya, and their mother suffered greatly, falling into depression. Their mother, a doctor, continued to see patients secretly, and Latifa eventually started an underground school for girls, an action that put both her and her students at great risk. Latifa and her parents left Afghanistan to be interviewed by the French magazine Elle, but when they tried to return, they discovered that the Taliban had declared them enemies of the state. A moving firsthand account with a real sense of immediacy. Kristine Huntley
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 210 pages
• Publisher: Miramax Books (March 13, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0786869011
• ISBN-13: 978-0786869015
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 5.8 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (45 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #535,986 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #87 in Books > Politics & Social Sciences > Current Events > International

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars What a story!, January 13, 2006

By 

Erika Mitchell (E. Calais, VT USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: My Forbidden Face (Audio Cassette)

This book provides a first-hand account of daily life in Afghanistan under the Taliban. Latifa (a pseudonym made necessary by death threats to the author and her family members) lived with her family in a middle-class area of Kabul. Her country had been at war her entire life. Over the years, Latifa and her family members struggled to be apolitical just so they could survive the frequent regime changes. One of her brothers served in the army under the Soviets, only to become a political prisoner under the regime; another was sent to university in Dushanbe, Tajikistan on a Soviet scholarship. When the Taliban took over Kabul, Latifa found herself virtually imprisoned in her apartment, forbidden by the Taliban from attending the university where she had just passed her entrance exams. Her sister had been an airline stewardess and her mother a doctor, but both were forbidden from continuing their professions. Her father was a businessman, whose Kabul warehouses were being continually destroyed in battle.

In this book, Latifa describes daily life for her family after the Taliban took control. She describes listening to edicts on the radio, forbidding women from working and girls from going to school. Women and girls were also not allowed to be treated by male doctors, and since women doctors were forbidden from practicing, this effectively shut half the population out from being able to receive any kind of health care. Women had to be covered from head to toe if they were to go out in public, and they had to be escorted by a male relative. On one of the few times Latifa dared go out of her apartment for a walk, she witnessed a horrific beating of women whose feet were covered but who had committed the apparently reprehensible crime of wearing the wrong color shoes.

At the beginning of her story, Latifa is an ordinary teenager, excited with fancy dresses and movie stars. But as the years go by, and she finds herself and all other women that she knows forbidden from participating in society in any, Latifa becomes more and more concerned with women's issues-indeed she becomes a feminist, although she had most likely never heard the term before. It's fascinating to read in her descriptions of childhood in Kabul of what a relatively normal life her family had been able to lead, despite the wars and political upheavals. This contrasts sharply with the changes brought in by the Taliban, when marriages could no longer be celebrated, and teachers could be beaten for providing lessons to little girls.

Latifa's occasional references to Dubai kept bringing back my own memories of the young Emirati women I taught there at about the same time Latifa was stuck in her apartment. In class one day at the height of Taliban power, I asked the students to construct an argument for why women should be educated. "But why?" they asked in shock. "Everyone knows women should be educated. No one would say otherwise-it's in the Q'uran." When I tried to tell them that the Taliban had forbidden women or girls from getting any kind of education in the Islamic republic of Afghanistan, they vociferously denied that this could be so. If only this book had been available then-perhaps the students might have believed Latifa's word, coming from a fellow Muslim girl, if they wouldn't believe mine. (Has it been translated into Arabic? Is it on the list of banned books for the Emirates?) This is a very-well written, gripping account of Afghani life from the point of view of an ordinary citizen, and highly recommended to anyone who wants to further their understanding of the Afghan society and attitudes towards the Taliban.

23 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars FALLS SHORT, BUT STILL WORTH READING, June 10, 2003

By 

S. Calhoun "rhymeswithorange" (Chicago, IL United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: My Forbidden Face: Growing Up Under the Taliban: A Young Woman's Story (Hardcover)

The publication of MY HIDDEN FACE: GROWING UP UNDER THE TALIBAN is timely due to the recent interest in Middle East issues. The treatment of women in this region of the world is astounding to some and horrifying to others [I put myself in the last category]. Women living under Taliban rule are the worldwide epitome of individuals stripped of all their humanitarian rights. Forced to remain in their homes unless escorted by a husband, brother, or father outside Afghani women were virtually cut off from society and forced to withdraw themselves for their own safety and survival. If they do venture outside they are banned from revealing their face in public women must wear the hooded garment often known as a burqa or chadri. The cover of this book sends shivers down my spine each time I view at it as a representation of society gone wrong. To add insult to injury this is done in the name of religion. Indeed this issue is fascinating and deserves much attention even after the Taliban was defeated.

I looked forward to reading Latifa's account of growing up female under Taliban rule (as the subtitle revealed). However, I felt a little disappointed when most of her recollections dealt with her life in Kabul *before* Taliban rule. Her observations of how her life has changed since she was banned from education and work were excellent but short. Rather, she delves into her past and recounts how she lived under Soviet rule and subsequent tribal leaders. To read about the earlier sections of her life was good but I feel that the title of this book is misleading. In addition, chapters toward the conclusion of the book were confusing and convoluted as she jumped from one time period to another without any context or explanation. It appeared that she was hurrying to finish the remaining chapters in a mad dash.

Regardless, MY FORBIDDEN FACE is a worthwhile read and suggested to all those who are interested. Latifa succeeds in putting a [human] perspective to this horrifying phenomenon. Hopefully history will not repeat.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Life in Kabul, November 10, 2005

By 

SgtB (Kabul, Afghanistan) - See all my reviews

This review is from: My Forbidden Face: Growing Up Under the Taliban: A Young Woman's Story (Paperback)

I first read this book when I arrived in Afghanistan in 2002. When I went to Kabul a month later, I was astounded at how the book resonated with the battered and bombed out Kabul I saw. 9 out of 10 building were bombed out, cars rusted and overturned in the streets, filthy children begging. That was Kabul in 2002. During my 2 years in Kabul, I had the opportunity to talk to many Afghans, and hear their stories of the Taliban. While each had their own story, the truth of Latifa's tale was borne out again and again. After reading the book, I asked questions on why birds and dogs were banned, why little boys could not fly kites and the ruling against any pictures. So I was able to get more indepth answer of the whys that I didn't completely understand in the book. Today, it is much better. Many of the buildings have been repaired, schools are open for both boys and girls, and the Afghans are working incredibly hard to rebuild their country and restore their culture. And today, kites again fly over Kabul.