The Dressmaker of Khair Khana

Lemmon, Gayle. The Dressmaker of Khair Khana: New York, NY: Harper, 2011.

The Dressmaker of Khair Khana

The Dressmaker of Khair Khana, written by Gayle Tzemach Lemmon, depicts the life of Kamila Siduqi, a young girl who worked during the years of the Taliban rule in Afghanistan. When the Taliban took over Afghanistan, the Afghan people were required to submit to their rule. The Taliban banned women from all arenas of public life. Lemmon shows an interesting yet horrifying look into what life was like under the Taliban rule. Kamila Siduqi helped her large family get into the dressmaking business, which they succeeded at, allowing her family to support themselves. Kamila also employed other young women so that they were able to support their families. It was an inspiring story of how one woman was able to provide for her family, and help other women support their families, during such a hard time in Afghanistan history.

The book began in 1996, the day that Kamila graduated from college with a teaching certificate. It was also the first day that the Taliban arrived in Afghanistan. The Taliban believed in the law of Islam, which completely banned women from society. They were no longer allowed to work or go to school. This meant that Kamila was no longer allowed to become a teacher. Despite this devastating reality, Kamlia knew that she must provide and support her family. This is when she decided that she would form a dressmaking business, and teaches her young sisters to help her. This made Kamila feel useful because she was able to make money for her family, even though women were banned from working in the country. After her family became successful at dressmaking, she began teaching other women within her society how to also make dresses. This allowed for them to also start making money and provide for their families. Dressmaking allowed Kamilia, as well as the other women in her society, to stay out of poverty during the Taliban rule.

Women’s lives during the time of the Taliban rule in Afghanistan were horrible. Under the Taliban rule, women were stripped of all human rights work, visibility, education, voice, healthcare and mobility. Women were no longer allowed to work and were banished from the work force. The Taliban closed schools to girls and kicked them out of universities. They were prohibited from leaving their homes unless a male relative was with them. Women were also forced to cover their bodies from head to toe. This