The Women in Kabul Keeping Their Beauty Salons Open
A beauty salon defaced with spray paint in a Kabul neighbourhood. Photo: WAKIL KOHSAR/AFP via Getty Images
A handful of beauty salons that painted over photos of women on their facades as the Taliban took control of Kabul earlier this year are continuing to operate, with the tenuous blessing of the Islamist group.
In what was one of the most visible signs of the looming changes to millions of Afghans’ everyday lives as Western military forces withdrew after 20 years, workers were photographed painting over images of women outside beauty salons and other shops. In some cases the photos were even scrubbed out, or ripped from the walls, as women feared for their rights and lives under the Taliban.
When news emerged that the president of Afghanistan had fled Kabul, an owner of a beauty salon in the capital closed early. “I had to let go 15 of my employees,”