Oct2013
Soosan Firooz is every inch a typical 24-year-old woman. She has
chunky silver rings on her fingers, chains on her hipster jeans, and a
fastidious devotion to her musical heroes – in her case Shakira.
But, unlike most girls her age, she has had to contend with fame, prejudice, and, even, death threats.
“The people who threaten me say they will kidnap my brother or they
will kidnap me, or assault me, or throw acid at me. And I thank them for
it because their threats motivate me to work even harder,” – she says
defiantly, as she sits in her Kabul studio.
Soosan is one of Afghanistan’s first female rappers. Her family fled
after the Taliban assumed power in the late nineties. They emigrated
first to Iran and then Pakistan, where they hoped to find sympathy and
acceptance. But like many Afghan refugees at the time, they were met
with prejudice and discrimination. It is these experiences that provide
the basis for Soosan’ rap music.
“I remember I was waiting in a queue to get bread from the bakery. We
gave the baker the money but he didn’t give me the bread. People in the
queue were hitting the Afghan kids. Through rapping, I could describe
the problems I was going through, and also the problems we face today in
our society.”
In a country where both women’s rights and music have been
suppressed, Soosan points toward a future in which Afghanistan’s youth
openly express their hopes and fears without reprisal. She is
emblematic of a new generation of Afghans with access to the Internet
and social media who want the same freedoms and opportunities afforded
to people in other countries.
“One day I was walking down the street and I saw three schoolgirls at
the bus station. One of them walked up to me and asked me whether I was
the female rapper. When I told them I was, they hugged me and told me
that I was their idol. “
For many Afghans, following their dreams is often not easy. Young men
are frequently encouraged to take over the family business or learn the
same trade as their fathers. Pride is taken in skills passed down from
one generation to the next. Breaking out of this cycle can be viewed as
an act of rebellion. For young women, opportunities are even more
limited. Most women are actively discouraged from pursuing a career of
any sort.
Women, like Soosan, in the public spotlight can face threats from
strangers who consider their work anti-Islamic. These are not idle
threats. In October 2012 Afghan actress Sonya Sarwari was
lucky not to be blinded when a stranger threw acid in her eyes as she
left an awards ceremony in Kabul. In August of the same year,
22-year-old actress Benafsha was stabbed to death as she walked to a bakery in the capital. And in 2007, 22-year-old television presenter Shakiba Sanga Amaj
was shot and killed by her own father for refusing to quit her career.
These are just three cases of many in which prominent Afghan women have
been attacked.
Soosan acknowledges that without the help and support of her family,
particularly her father Abdul Ghafar Firooz who left his job as an
electrical engineer to act as a bodyguard for his daughter, she would
not be where she is today.
“They have supported me a lot. If it weren’t for them, I wouldn’t be
sitting here today. In my household I am the only one who brings in
money. My father can’t work because he is too busy being my security
guard.”
Despite the death threats and the risks that her fame brings, Soosan
has no intentions of quitting. She has a growing fan base. At a recent
concert in Kabul, Soosan attracted a large crowd of both sexes—a
testament to the changing attitude toward female entertainers.
“I am a female rapper sitting in this studio. But if this were the
past regimes, then I would probably be dead right now, so there have
been some positive changes. There are lots of girls in school. Women now
feel secure going outside their homes to work. And women are now in the
media and on television showing their faces.”
Although the situation for women is improving in Afghanistan, cases
of violence against women are still extremely high. Soosan is helping to
challenge the status quo and prove that Afghan women can leave the home
and pursue their own careers.
Watch Soosan’s new video (with English subtitles) on YouTube.
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