The club, composed mostly of women but also of a few men, meets at a cafe or a reading space at Kabul University to discuss novels<br />— from Alice Walker’s “The Color Purple” to Khaled Hosseini’s “A Thousand Splendid Suns” — and broad philosophical questions.<br />Afghan Magazine, a Sisterhood of Ideas, Hopes to Counter Men’s Sway -<br />Photographs and Text by MUJIB MASHALMAY 21, 2017<br />The first issue of the Afghan women’s magazine covers standard ground, like fashion tips during pregnancy<br />and interviews with young pop artists about their love lives.<br />“But we want to introduce them in an Afghan way — in a simpler way that matches how our people live.”<br />“The main issue is durability of work inside Afghanistan, and the other issue is impact,” she said.<br />Its editor, Fatana Hassanzada, above right, is aware<br />that she will face resistance in certain circles of men who, without even reading the magazine, will view its content as leading women astray and, therefore, dangerous.<br />Despite the risk, she hopes Gellara becomes a household name, a forum for conversation for young women<br />that can be slipped under apartment doors or into purses, and offered at beauty parlors and dentist offices.<br />It took months to prepare their first issue because they struggled to find a balance between pursuing nurturing themes<br />like second-wave feminism, which might appeal to a more educated audience, and attracting a wider readership.<br />She knows that the magazine — the product of nearly five months of work by a dozen young female volunteers — could very well be burned.
