Masculinity In Osama

The film Osama directed by Siddiq Barmak delivers insider perspective of the challenges a woman living in Afghanistan experiences on a daily basis. Osama was entirely filmed in Afghanistan during the strict rule of the Taliban, where women are not allowed to work or be in public without a male escort. Many families are left without men to provide for the women because many of them died during the Afghan Wars, thus leaving families with only women to starve. Osama exposes an extremist culture where masculinity is privileged and femininity is suppressed. The cultural dimensions exemplified in Osama provide a realistic portrayal of how cultural values affect gender roles in different societies. In such an extremist society, it is quite …show more content…
In the case of Osama, it is clear that Afghanistan is operating under a heavily masculine society. The role division between male and female is extreme. Males are expected to rule society and females are expected to follow the rules. Women are demure and men are assertive. In the patriarchal culture of Afghanistan, the rulers admire the strong and disdain the weak. Males are not supposed to cry and are tailored to fight. Osama’s lack of masculinity is what revealed her true gender while at school with all the boys. When Osama was crying as she was lowered into the well, it became clear to the Mullah that she was not a male especially after touching her genitals. The overbearing influence of religion in Afghanistan also relates to the masculine society. The focuses on God are seen throughout the movie when only the men are called to prayer and when they praise Allah during the executions at the end of the movie. In many other cultures emphasis is placed on masculinity for leadership, but this emphasis doesn’t always come with positivity. In India, there is a lot of abuse among young girls and wives from their husbands and fathers. The abuse relates back to the men being assertive and being tailored to fight. Men are taught that they will get what they want if they react with violence against women. The opening scene of Osama shows the Taliban spraying the protesting women with high-pressure hoses, with the intention of hurting them to suppress their protests. The violence that comes with the high emphasis on masculinity is often associated with negative behaviors, thus suppressing and hurting the females of many