Afghan Women’s Songs: Lament and Resistance

Folk songs are a means of communication, a tool of expression, and a way to both resist and nurture patriarchy for some Afghan women. Through songs, women tell a story or express feelings that amplify other women’s voices, and women, usually present in the audience, resonate with them. The song themes are often centered around the stories of womanhood, marriage, migration, war, poverty, and so on. In her articles, “Nurturing Masculinity, Resisting Patriarchy” and “Songs of War and Despair,” Tabasum Wolayat ’12 argues that the songs help women both express their bottle-neck feelings due to war, various occupations, poverty, and patriarchy and imagine an alternative. She also argues that girls from a young age are taught to support their brothers, not only through preparing their meals and washing their clothes, but also through composing songs and imagine different ways of living.

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