Kabul Beauty School - At What Price Do You Get “The Story”?

My heart sank last week when I heard this story on NPR.

Kabul Beauty School: An American Woman Goes Behind the Veil, written by Deborah Rodriguez, was released in April to much fanfare. It’s number 28 on the New York Times Bestseller List and Sony Pictures plans to make it into a movie starring Sandra Bullock.

The book chronicles the story of Rodriquez who established the Kabul Beauty School after the fall of the Taliban, under whose control hairdressing was outlawed. A noble effort indeed. According to Rodriguez, the school was, “The only place where women could feel safe.” No men were allowed in and it was strictly a women-owned and run business.

Kabul Beauty School (the book) goes into much detail about the lives of the women, their relationships with their husbands and their struggles within Afghan society. While the book is not officially available in Afghanistan, copies of it have been floating around and it’s caused quite the stir with the local population. The book includes photos (which the women say they were promised would never be published) and detailed stories.

Now, the women fear for their lives.

According to Rodriquez, Meena, was one of her biggest success stories. She was sold to her husband at a young age to pay a debt owed by her family and was unhappy with her situation. Her husband gave her to the school and, with no positions available as a hairdresser, she began cleaning, eventually becoming a hairdresser and then manager of the school. She now speaks English and does the accounting as well as other managerial roles. She is able to support her whole family now.

However, according to the NPR story, now that the book has been published, Meena is distraught. She feels abandoned by Rodriguez. And the lives of the women at the school have been threatened for smearing the reputation of their country. Now that Rodriguez has left the country (with her $80,000 advance from Random House), they have no one to turn to.

Rodriguez says, “It’s so hard for me to be here when they are going through this.” But, how could she NOT think that this tell-all book wouldn’t have an effect on them, their livelihoods and their safety?

Some of the women are making escape plans to Pakistan. Meena is convinced someone will kill her.

For her part, Rodriguez says she does plan to give a portion of her royalties to the women at the school. I have to wonder, when?

Happy Travels!

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