On Oct. 30, in Afghanistan, the Taliban announced that women are no longer able to speak freely with each other in public, according to the Associated Press. But, restricting women’s ability to speak isn’t the only human right the Taliban have stripped away since taking over in 2021.
In addition to this, Taliban officials have restricted women’s rights such as the ability to work a job in government, the freedom to leave their homes or go to work and most notably, their right to secondary education.
On Aug. 31, 2021, the Taliban took over Afghanistan, promising not to return to their misogynistic treatment of women. Their relapse into banning all women’s rights has caused English classes at East to hone in on the topic and discuss it as part of their curriculum.
Women’s rights in Afghanistan have become a prevalent topic of discussion with senior AP English classes reading “A Thousand Splendid Suns,” set in Afghanistan during the height of the Taliban’s regime.
Through “A Thousand Splendid Suns,” AP Literature teacher Amy Andersen has actively followed the treatment of women in Afghanistan by the Taliban.
“I think it’s important for students to have the opportunity to read a book that expands their worldview and hopefully fosters empathy for Afghan society as a whole,” Andersen said.
Andersen, along with other teachers at East, use this book as a tool to help them showcase the value of education to their students.
“Education is such a basic, foundational right,” Andersen said. “It’s not just the fact that it opens up doors to professions and finances, it also shapes our perspectives and gives us an ability to have a fully formulated way of seeing the world.”
After being disappointed by the results of the presidential election, freshmen Emma Hebbert and Zella Hanzel decided to create a feminist club called Future Is Female. Their goal is to spread awareness about women’s rights, with their first meeting on Dec. 5.
“Historically, I don’t care much about politics, but after the results of the election, it was very upsetting for me because I don’t agree with [Trump’s] views,” Hanzel said. “We don’t want to go back in history and get our rights taken away.”
Future Is Female will focus on informing members and other young women about women’s rights, while also inspiring them to become advocates.
Hebbert and other co-founders also created the club with a goal to raise awareness about the struggles women face. They aim to uplift women and help them find success in life by informing their members of prevalent female issues and ways that members can advocate for each other.
“Being underestimated is a huge thing in the female community,” Hanzel said. “I’ve seen men talk down to women and say ‘Oh you’re a girl. You can’t do that’ and I’m like, ‘We can do that better than you can.’ I think it would be really great if we could give women the confidence to ignore them.”
On Nov. 23rd, the all female StuCo Executive board held their second to last event of 2024, the annual can drive, raising almost $3000 and donating nearly 2400 cans to the Johnson County Christmas Bureau.
“It makes a huge difference because these cans last into next year and you have to be a certain percentage under the poverty line to shop at the Christmas bureau,” StuCo Vice President and junior Paige Bean said. “We go and volunteer in December and we see the people that are shopping and they always thank us so much for donating and volunteering our time.”
Stuco Secretary junior Claire Polanco, Treasurer junior Fina Kessler, and Student Body President senior Ingrid Blacketer have known each other for three years, through StuCo. The executives’ long-term friendships have helped them to understand what each person has to offer
“We know what each other would want in a situation or the way they would go about an event,” Blacketer said. “And so we try and incorporate part of everyone’s thought process into whatever we’re working on in that moment.”
The executives all agree that their friendships with one another allowed them to be on track to raise more money that last years’ exec board.
“We all compliment each other so well,” Blacketer said. “We have a different way to approach situations, so you get a little piece of everything.”