Saturday 12 May 2007

WISE WOMEN

ben trovato says:

"I found this on the internet, and it isn't funny".

Barbara Walters, of Television's 20/20, did a story on gender roles in Kabul, Afghanistan, several years before the Afghan conflict.

She noted that women customarily walked 5 paces behind their husbands. She recently returned to Kabul and observed that women still walk behind their husbands.

From Miss Walter's vantage point, despite the overthrow of the oppressive Taliban regime, the women now seem to walk even further back behind their husbands and are happy to maintain the old custom.

Miss Walters approached one of the Afghani women and asked, "Why do you now seem happy with the old custom that you once tried so desperately to change?"

The woman looked Miss Walters straight in the eyes and -- without hesitation -- said:

"LAND MINES."

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Can't fault them !
WHAT a Good Idea.

Anonymous said...

That's one of mine !!
Different war.
Different country.
But, utterly believable.

Anonymous said...

"...it isn't funny"

When you say, "...it isn't funny," well, could you expand on that please?

Merkin said...

I originally heard it as a story from Angola 20 odd years ago.
At one point during one of my many and varied careers I was straight man for a stand up comic/impersonater.

He had a cardex of jokes which he updated regularly. Very often we would have 3 or 4 versions of the same joke. I still have an interest in the etymology of jokes.

I am in the Bob Hope/George Burns school which says
a) there are only really 10 jokes
b) there are no new jokes
I am generally politically correct but not exclusively so.
'What do you mean by funny'?
Whatever makes you laugh.
In the case of a pro comedian it actually means 'whatever makes the audience laugh' and that is certainly a different thing.
The best Jewish I know come from Jews.
The best gay jokes come from gays.
I know a bundle of jokes from black guys that I would never tell to most white people but which would have my black friends laughing like drains.
The rule in language is 'use what is appropriate'.
I have no problem with Pirates or Prelates because I have a good feel for the correct use in the particular situation. I am lucky.

zola a social thing said...

Are females foxes?

Anonymous said...

I'm foxy.