By order of the Taliban, female store mannequins must now be a) headless or b) heads covered
Following a recent order by the Taliban, female store mannequins must now a) have no heads or b) have heads covered to avoid disrespect and provocation.
“We have ordered the shopkeepers to cut off the heads of the mannequins as it is against Sharia,” Aziz Rahman, head of the Ministry for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, said earlier this month.
According to the Taliban’s interpretation of Islamic law, the depiction of the human body is prohibited
This is Herat where the Taliban authorities have asked clothing shops to behead all “female mannequins” calling them “un-Islamic”. Herat was called “the pearl of Khurasan” by Rumi and has been considered the cultural capital of #Afghanistan. pic.twitter.com/CUBA6fSE74
— Zia Shahreyar l زیا شهریار (@ziashahreyar) January 3, 2022
Then the Acharic beheading order became more… flexible for financial reasons and after that, – and to avoid decapitating the dolls – the shopkeepers covered the heads as best they could.
Images circulated on social media show faces hidden by foil, cloth hoods, handkerchiefs and even bags wrapping the heads of the dolls.
Here are some images from one of my businesses. Almost all of my employees are female, ranging in age from 18 to 50, and they currently work in very unfavorable and stressful conditions. Taliban cannot win by segregating and repressing half of the population. pic.twitter.com/cVDdsZitPM
— Faisal Azizi (@mfaisalazizi) January 18, 2023
An Afghan activist, Sara Wahedi, wrote: “The Taliban’s hatred of women extends beyond the living. It is now mandatory for shop owners to cover the faces of the dolls in shop windows. These dystopian images are a sign of how much worse life will become for Afghan women if the world does not stand by them.”
The images have gone viral and sparked strong reactions in the global social media community. However, one user wrote that male mannequins are also subject to the same ruling.
Male mannequins are subject to the same ruling too. From my understanding, this isn’t abt misogyny? it’s abt the prohibition of statues. pic.twitter.com/5FbCGBlKwJ
— Khairul AJ (@khairul_aj) January 20, 2023
“From what I understand, this is not about misogyny but an absolute ban on statues,” he said, also posting a photo of male dolls with their heads covered.
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With a wealth of experience honed over 4+ years in journalism, I bring a seasoned voice to the world of news. Currently, I work as a freelance writer and editor, always seeking new opportunities to tell compelling stories in the field of world news.
