Women Without a Future Are Making History

"I am 74 years old; I’ve seen beauty and disasters, achievements and destruction, and everything in between. I wanted to stay and remind everyone that, like everything else in history, this too shall pass." - Mahbouba Seraj, Activist and women’s rights defender in Afghanistan

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March is Women’s History Month. March 8th is International Women’s Day. These occasions usually prompt a combination of celebrating “Women in [Fill in Your Field Here]” accomplishments and pointing out the progress yet to be made in executive-level and board-level gender representation.

I’m a woman who works in procurement and supply chain. I’ve received recognition for this in the past, although I'm not sure why. My career has been amazing. I graduated from college, then grad school, then grad school again - and my employer paid for that one. I have worked with and for amazing, respectful, supportive men. Sure, some people are jerks - but there are plenty of those on both sides of the gender divide.

And yet, I have also overcome gender-related obstacles. I co-founded a business with a 15-month-old daughter, a son expected 5 months later, and another baby on the 3-year horizon. (I know… what on earth was I thinking?)

It was hard. I squeezed in calls during naps, then preschool, then kindergarten. I burned the midnight oil (and sometimes the dawn oil, too) building my business off hours so that I could be there for my children during the day. There was no 'maternity leave' for me.

In truth, it is still hard today. Now I work around school bus schedules, football, lacrosse, field trips, trumpet lessons, and weekly origami classes… I juggle dinner, laundry, cleaning, and more. I have no free time. I write late at night when everyone else is asleep. I put my own to do list aside to help my fourth grader study for his multiplication tests. I help my teenage daughter with her high school essays. I take my seventh grader back to school because he forgot his iPad (again!).

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But please, I beg you; don’t celebrate me this month. I can assure you I’ve done nothing special. I’m not extraordinary, but other women are.

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When the U.S. pulled out of Afghanistan in August of 2021, the fate of women and girls living in the country immediately became uncertain. First the universities were segregated and then women were prevented from attending. Controls increased through 2022, and most women either lost or gave up their jobs. Medica Mondiale reports that “84 percent of female journalists stopped working by August of 2022 because of fear of repression.” Now women confined to their homes can’t even see or hear the news from other women. The Ministry of Women became the “Ministry for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice.” George Orwell couldn’t do better if he tried.

Women in their early twenties have never known life under Taliban rule. They are girls who grew up with dreams of going to school, starting businesses, participating in government, and having professional careers. Those were my dreams too. Yes, it is hard being a woman in business, but I’m living out my dreams in real time. What about them?

If we are serious about International Women’s Day and Women’s History Month, we must acknowledge that for the women of Afghanistan, the history that future generations will fight to overcome is happening today. According to UN News, Afghanistan is the only country in the world where girls are banned from going to high school. Those girls are my daughter. What wouldn’t they trade to be in her shoes?

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I don’t mean to be a downer. We can celebrate women’s progress and push for more in one part of the world while we acknowledge the identity-based crisis playing out before our own eyes in another. I’ve always been uncomfortable with the idea of singling women out just because we are women. As a woman, I can’t accept recognition or accolades for something I didn’t do while others are literally fighting for their most basic rights – and for their very lives – because they didn’t ‘do’ the same thing.

Although the United Nations is trying to help, they are limited by the Taliban’s complete lack of remorse and the world’s unwillingness to intervene. The UN is on the ground in Afghanistan doing what they can to meet women’s short-term needs. Sadly, that does not guarantee these women any quality of life.

Reading stories about and statements from these women makes me sick. One of the most effective things the UN has done is to give voices to an amazing group of defiant Afghan women so their stories are not lost.

Here are a few quotes from that series of articles that hit me straight in the heart:

• “Something died inside me on 15 August 2021, or at least that is how I felt: my hopes crushed, my education irrelevant, my investment in Afghanistan gone.” Nasima (a pseudonum used for her safety)
• “I am heartbroken, but hopeful. I recently re-opened my business, and I am working on a marketing plan to keep it running.” Zarina (pseudonym)
• “Every single woman in Afghanistan is doing something extraordinary—just by staying alive, just feeding their family and by keeping their hope up that maybe, one day, things will be okay for them.” Mahbouba (her real name)

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I also quoted Mahbouba Seraj at the top of this article. She articulates the connection between today’s struggle and the rolling drumbeat of history beautifully, and her use of the word “extraordinary” is perfect. I can’t measure up to that, and I’m lucky that is true. I’m fortunate that I don’t have the opportunity to be as extraordinary as she and the other women of Afghanistan are.

Zarina’s statement is the hardest for me to read. She is risking dangerous run-ins with the Taliban to rebuild her business. She is “working on a marketing plan,” as she puts it. The words catch in my throat. That is courage worth celebrating. That is an extraordinary achievement whether her marketing plan succeeds or not.

I love history. As part of the This Week in Business History podcast, I’ve covered women’s struggles, achievements, and social progress:

• Women fought for their rights as workers as part of the 1912 ‘Bread and Roses’ strike in my own backyard
• Women struggled to get respect and recognition as inventors of devices such as the windshield wiper
• Women saw everything slip through their fingers as investors turned away simply because of their identities

Those of us who follow absolutely benefit from their refusal to give up. We have made progress, and while it might not be as much or as fast as everyone wants to see, progress is undeniable. I just hope the women of Afghanistan have the strength and determination required to survive their current circumstances. It is hard but true: women without a future don’t need history.

They are not asking for an easy path, or quick money, or guaranteed success. They just want to live in a country where they have the right to try. To go to school. To chart their own path. To leave the house unescorted.

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Every challenge I face as a woman in business is a privilege afforded to me by my circumstances. I don’t take a single privilege for granted, and I feel inspired to make the most of them because I know other women will never have the chance to try.

Please, I beg you, don’t celebrate me this month. I’m living the dream. I just wish the women of Afghanistan had the freedom to live theirs.

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