Editor in Chief: Moh. Reza Huwaida Friday, March 29th, 2024

The Past and the Present

|

The Past and the Present

She stares at herself in the mirror putting on her makeup before going out. Shahnaz spends long minutes in using lipstick, eyeliner, nail polish, etc. Her high-heeled shoes, mini-skirt, tights, ponytail, dark-red scarf and pretty shoulder-bag catch one’s eyes easily. You can smell her perfume from long distance. She comes out in a chic and fresh way as if she is going to a fashion show. Her style is mostly the same as that of her favorite actress in a foreign film. Her costly and up-to-date fashion is as jaw-dropping as one can hardly resist the tendency of casting an appreciative look at her.

When she passes the young boys, their mouths water and they clear their throat meaningfully. Every day, she is insulted on the streets in vulgar language and ridiculous remarks. The boys make fun of her and tease her by whistling and whispering and calling her names here and there.

Shahnaz’s taste for clothes puts her in collision course with her old mother. Her mother, who was brought up in a religious atmosphere, fights tooth and nail to prevent her daughter from adopting this modern style. The old woman has lived a simple life of the past era which entailed high moral codes, religious values and particular cultural norms. She attempts to bring up her daughter in the frame of her own beliefs and the same old way of life. Is she able to impose her conservative mindset on her daughter who lives in a modern age?

Shahnaz believes that her mother is jealous of her. She responds to her mother curtly, in conflicts over this issue,   saying that the mother had lived a poor life lacking the basic facilities. She feels exhausted by her parents’ blistering criticisms and persistent  do’s and don’ts,   arguing that she is no more the docile child of yesterday,  but  a young girl who lives in the modern age. She adds that her mother’s nostalgic feelings smack of her simplicity; arguing that the past clothing style is out of date.

Her mother says that all what she dreamt about her daughter is on the verge of failure. Apparently, her dream about her daughter does not bear the desired fruit. She wished her daughter be brought up according to her own traditional moral standards and religious values, however, that was all in vain.

The blistered hands of her old father, who toils from dawn to dusk to make ends meet, reveal their poverty. He works hard to fight the financial constraints and to comfort his family. He struggles tirelessly so as to provide his daughter with school necessities. He is too busy to monitor where his daughter goes and whom she is in contact with. Perhaps, one day   if he is jobless and out of work, the family will go hungry

The fact is that it is not only the story of Shahnaz but of many Afghan girls who are bombardments by the lure of foreign cultures. TV has spoiled their moral values to a large extent. In other words, the younger generation is totally alienated from their religious instructions, moral codes and cultural norms.

It is an undeniable fact that changes have taken place with the passage of time; however the swift changes of mind and style which result in the undermining of the moral standards of one’s society deserve to be denounced.

Modernization erodes the norms and values of traditional societies. Conservatism seems more vulnerable to the current bombardments of modern cultures. Indeed, the entire world is in the clutch of modernity. There is no choice but to accept it.  No religious sensitivity can stop the process. The conservatives are coerced to grin and bear the poisonous effects of this modern culture.

Considering the current social and cultural trends and the death of moral standards and religious values, it is believed that the future generation will be at risk of further misconception and malpractices. They will be greatly confused due to cultural pluralism and conflicting varieties of social values; a mix of modern and traditional norms. They will not know which one to adopt and which lifestyle to discard. Our pure religious values are falling victim to cultural bombardment and our youths show great tendency towards Westernized modernity. Presently, the old moral standards which were ruling the country for years are being   discarded openly. Normally, when religion and moral values are marginalized in a society, crime and corruption rise.   This is what we experience in today’s society.

Modernity has two groups of people in our country. One, a group which does not only resist but also fight against the modern changes and the second group welcomes it with open arms in all its aspects. The first group can be the religious extremists which issue religious fatwa against those who favor modern changes. Such people show a fundamental frame of mind regarding acculturation. But the second group is extremely flexible irrespective of their society’s religious values and social and cultural norms. They embrace modernity at the cost of their beliefs. Thus, the role of modernity is the central factor in cultural changes.

Emile Durkheim states: “Man’s characteristic privilege is that the bond he accepts is not physical but moral; that is, social. He is governed not by a material environment brutally imposed on him, but by a conscience superior to his own, the superiority of which he feels. Because the greater, better part of his existence transcends the body, he escapes the body’s yoke, but is subject to that of society.”

Moreover, modernity leads the younger generations to a state of total confusion to opt for multiple cultures and leaves them in great dilemma whether to choose Indian, American, British or Turkish cultures.

Hujjatullah Zia is an emerging writer of Daily Outlook Afghanistan. He can be reached at zia_hujjat@yahoo.com .

Go Top