Kabul Beauty School: An American Woman Goes Behind the Veil

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Kabul Beauty School: An American Woman Goes Behind the Veil

Editorial Review

Soon after the fall of the Taliban, in 2001, Deborah Rodriguez went to Afghanistan as part of a group offering humanitarian aid to this war-torn nation. Surrounded by men and women whose skills-as doctors, nurses, and therapists-seemed eminently more practical than her own, Rodriguez, a hairdresser and mother of two from Michigan, despaired of being of any real use. Yet she soon found she had a gift for befriending Afghans, and once her profession became known she was eagerly sought out by Westerners desperate for a good haircut and by Afghan women, who have a long and proud tradition of running their own beauty salons. Thus an idea was born.
With the help of corporate and international sponsors, the Kabul Beauty School welcomed its first class in 2003. Well meaning but sometimes brazen, Rodriguez stumbled through language barriers, overstepped cultural customs, and constantly juggled the challenges of a postwar nation even as she learned how to empower her students to become their families' breadwinners by learning the fundamentals of coloring techniques, haircutting, and makeup.
Yet within the small haven of the beauty school, the line between teacher and student quickly blurred as these vibrant women shared with Rodriguez their stories and their hearts: the newlywed who faked her virginity on her wedding night, the twelve-year-old bride sold into marriage to pay her family's debts, the Taliban member's wife who pursued her training despite her husband's constant beatings. Through these and other stories, Rodriguez found the strength to leave her own unhealthy marriage and allow herself to love again, Afghan style.
With warmth and humor, Rodriguez details the lushness of a seemingly desolate region and reveals the magnificence behind the burqa. Kabul Beauty School is a remarkable tale of an extraordinary community of women who come together and learn the arts of perms, friendship, and freedom.
From the Hardcover edition.

Customer Reviews:

• Avg. Customer Rating: 4.0 / 5.0
• You Can't Do Much If You Never Walk Past Your Front Yard
  What a gutsy lady and what a thought provoking story. It cannot be easy to uproot yourself and go to another country in which women are treated no better than dogs to teach beauty in a land of war and turmoil. Deborah Rodriguez showed me a world outside my little haven where women are suffering the shocking treatment of the Taliban. I knew very little about them until reading this except what I occasionally see on the news. What a shock. To think that women were arrested for simply doing people's hair? I... more info
• A unique perspective on a fascinating culture
  A beautiful book! I absolutely loved this, and couldn't put it down. It's an easy, quick read, with lots of *great* description and a perspective that's mostly missing from this genre. The experiences and perceptions of a beautician are different from those of academics and journalists, and I absolutely loved exploring near-contemporary Kabul through Debbie's eyes and ears.
  If, like me, you've become accustomed to the academic voices of ethnographers and world-class journalists describing the... more info
• A Fascinating Book
  In 2002, Deborah Rodriguez ventured off to Afghanistan with Care for All Foundation, an emergency and disaster relief organization. She knew nothing really about emergency and disaster relief--she is a hairdresser by trade. But she had a generous and brave spirit. When all the doctors and nurses had gone, she stayed behind to to build a beauty school and salon (something the Taliban had outlawed). She encountered the Taliban, women in arranged marriages, bombings, cultural divides--and all with great humor... more info
• Excellent!
  I highly recommend this book. Some may say that Rodrigues gave herself too much credit for what others have done. But I have to admit, that I for one would never go to Kabul. So regardless of how much she did, or did not achieve, she was there, and we weren't. To be a woman in a repressive society is beyond difficult, it's torturous. I applaud her courage, and her determination to initiate change in a world where women's voices are meaningless. I wish the best for the women of Kabul, and for the few good... more info

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