The death of the job

<p>Once upon a time, there were good jobs.</p> <p>These jobs paid people enough money to live on, even enough to support a family. They provided health insurance so people could go to a doctor if they got sick. They even came with pensions so that once you’d worked for a certain number of years, you could actually stop working. You could rest.</p> <p>But there was a problem.</p> <p>These jobs weren’t for everyone. They were mostly for white men, and mostly in certain places, like a factory or an office. For everyone else, there were jobs that paid less, with fewer benefits — or no benefits at all. And over time, there were more and more bad jobs and fewer and fewer good jobs, and even the good jobs started getting less good, and everyone was very tired, and there was not enough money.</p> <p>Then there was a plague.</p> <p>While this little fable may oversimplify the history of work in America over the past century, it’s not that far off.</p> <p>Since about the 1940s, Americans have been encouraged to look to their jobs for nearly all of life’s necessities: a living wage, health insurance, and retirement benefits, as well as intangibles like friendship, identity, and a sense of purpose. But these benefits were never universal, and they became less and less common as the years went by.</p> <div class="c-wide-block"> <figure class="e-image"><span class="e-image__inner"><span class="e-image__image" data-original="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22802723/GettyImages_563960273t.jpg"><picture class="c-picture" data-cid="site/picture_element-1629837619_8469_33453" data-cdata='{"asset_id":22802723,"ratio":"*"}'><source srcset="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/s4bxMWzSrz7nTuerA8LywvlYH8s=/0x0:4000x3035/320x0/filters:focal(0x0:4000x3035):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22802723/GettyImages_563960273t.jpg 320w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/k95_InzlcBO4gNbigbNxFO5hvsM=/0x0:4000x3035/520x0/filters:focal(0x0:4000x3035):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22802723/GettyImages_563960273t.jpg 520w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/HAsIKLCNDM4TPPfYQ7-cjij9XSI=/0x0:4000x3035/720x0/filters:focal(0x0:4000x3035):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22802723/GettyImages_563960273t.jpg 720w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/cOa3G73Oms-ucuSfIjmz50QqE5o=/0x0:4000x3035/920x0/filters:focal(0x0:4000x3035):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22802723/GettyImages_563960273t.jpg 920w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/Ov0xiqr1Lfmur0yetqt6tM7gg6E=/0x0:4000x3035/1120x0/filters:focal(0x0:4000x3035):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22802723/GettyImages_563960273t.jpg 1120w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/E02DAlX_gd2hLcRgDKXDJqyDCHs=/0x0:4000x3035/1320x0/filters:focal(0x0:4000x3035):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22802723/GettyImages_563960273t.jpg 1320w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/AJrmlbnMHuyf_qQ0m-0TngAQGvk=/0x0:4000x3035/1520x0/filters:focal(0x0:4000x3035):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22802723/GettyImages_563960273t.jpg 1520w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/qWdIOw6ZzT9imBh1SfVBrAJSg3s=/0x0:4000x3035/1720x0/filters:focal(0x0:4000x3035):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22802723/GettyImages_563960273t.jpg 1720w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/QHTtJIZNRJPXzK-xuSdm2ElMYco=/0x0:4000x3035/1920x0/filters:focal(0x0:4000x3035):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22802723/GettyImages_563960273t.jpg 1920w" sizes="90vw" type="image/webp" /> <img alt="" data-upload-width="4000" sizes="90vw" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/XhfUQ8qvd0DBP3pTXbXr1eeQ_U8=/0x0:4000x3035/1200x0/filters:focal(0x0:4000x3035):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22802723/GettyImages_563960273t.jpg" srcset="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/9u305UCgvbhFPVaVxt-XHtMg0Jc=/0x0:4000x3035/320x0/filters:focal(0x0:4000x3035):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22802723/GettyImages_563960273t.jpg 320w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/lM2jS9bQ8ffw1vn8_iW2NEYBVE8=/0x0:4000x3035/520x0/filters:focal(0x0:4000x3035):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22802723/GettyImages_563960273t.jpg 520w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/mW2tg-i1H7qH1Qpwi8X_Z_UdVNk=/0x0:4000x3035/720x0/filters:focal(0x0:4000x3035):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22802723/GettyImages_563960273t.jpg 720w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/9oiDjLb4wJEYy2AOxYbr2VQmhbk=/0x0:4000x3035/920x0/filters:focal(0x0:4000x3035):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22802723/GettyImages_563960273t.jpg 920w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/OsUEr81spfa9EehM_YsSSnES4HA=/0x0:4000x3035/1120x0/filters:focal(0x0:4000x3035):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22802723/GettyImages_563960273t.jpg 1120w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/juvzgoiyMv4_2Dvh09C6j5-bZ1M=/0x0:4000x3035/1320x0/filters:focal(0x0:4000x3035):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22802723/GettyImages_563960273t.jpg 1320w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/YBLeBuXDiyNxCsztfC53cI98pZw=/0x0:4000x3035/1520x0/filters:focal(0x0:4000x3035):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22802723/GettyImages_563960273t.jpg 1520w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/_zCSCD3NZ-b3B3Q6ur_iX0kXm_o=/0x0:4000x3035/1720x0/filters:focal(0x0:4000x3035):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22802723/GettyImages_563960273t.jpg 1720w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/knLJ3_i9wDbFiooJMKdUVPm7mGY=/0x0:4000x3035/1920x0/filters:focal(0x0:4000x3035):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22802723/GettyImages_563960273t.jpg 1920w" /></picture></span></span> <figcaption><span class="e-image__meta">Merchants gather on a sidewalk in New York’s Lower East Side neighborhood circa 1950.</span></figcaption> <span class="e-image__meta"><cite>H. Armstrong Roberts/ClassicStock via Getty Images</cite></span></figure> </div> <p>The pandemic has made matters even worse. Millions of front-line workers risked their lives doing jobs that often offered them little more than poverty-level wages in return. Even for those able to work in the relative safety of their homes, the pandemic often sapped whatever joy, camaraderie, or fulfillment jobs had once offered — 40 percent of workers in <a href="https://go.redirectingat.com/?id=66960X1516588&xs=1&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.flexjobs.com%2Fblog%2Fpost%2Fflexjobs-mha-mental-health-workplace-pandemic%2F&referrer=vox.com&sref=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.vox.com%2F22621892%2Fjobs-work-pandemic-covid-great-resignation-2021" rel="sponsored nofollow noopener" target="_blank" has-subtag="true" data-cdata='{"rewritten_url":"https://go.redirectingat.com?id=66960X1516588\u0026xs=1\u0026url=https://www.flexjobs.com/blog/post/flexjobs-mha-mental-health-workplace-pandemic/\u0026referrer=vox.com\u0026sref=https://www.vox.com/22621892/jobs-work-pandemic-covid-great-resignation-2021\u0026xcust=___vx__p_22385933__m_m-placeholder__s_s-placeholder__t_w__c_c-placeholder__r_r-placeholder__d_d-placeholder","subtag_max_length":50,"subtag_delim_length":3,"subtag_key":"xcust","subtag_data":{"id":"66960X1516588","xs":"1","url":"https://www.flexjobs.com/blog/post/flexjobs-mha-mental-health-workplace-pandemic/","referrer":"vox.com","sref":"https://www.vox.com/22621892/jobs-work-pandemic-covid-great-resignation-2021","xcust":"___vx__p_22385933__m_m-placeholder__s_s-placeholder__t_w__c_c-placeholder__r_r-placeholder__d_d-placeholder"},"encode_subtag":false}'>one 2020 survey</a>, the majority of them working remotely, reported experiencing burnout during the pandemic. The problem was only compounded for parents and others who took on new caregiving responsibilities, with mothers especially dealing with <a href="https://www.vox.com/22321909/covid-19-pandemic-school-work-parents-remote">high levels of exhaustion and depression</a>.</p> <p>But the pandemic has also been a turning point for many workers, leading them to reevaluate their jobs in the face of new dangers — or a realignment of priorities brought on by a once-in-a-lifetime public health disaster. Indeed, the pandemic has led to record numbers of people quitting their jobs — <a href="https://www.npr.org/2021/06/24/1007914455/as-the-pandemic-recedes-millions-of-workers-are-saying-i-quit">4 million this April alone</a>, a phenomenon so widespread it’s been called <a href="https://www.bbc.com/worklife/article/20210629-the-great-resignation-how-employers-drove-workers-to-quit">the Great Resignation</a>. And it’s leading employers, policymakers, and society at large to rethink jobs and how they dominate our days.</p> <p>“I think it’s changed everything, and I think it’s changed everything fundamentally,” James Livingston, a history professor at Rutgers University and the author of <a href="https://uncpress.org/book/9781469630656/no-more-work/"><em>No More Work: Why Full Employment Is a Bad Idea</em></a>, told Vox.</p> <p>We’ll (probably) always have work, but could the job as the centerpiece of American life be on the way out?</p> <p>To understand the question, you have to know how the country got to where it is today. The story starts, to some degree, with a failure. Much of American labor law — as well as the social safety net, such as it is — stems from union organizing and progressive action at the federal level in the 1930s, culminating in the New Deal. At that time, many unions were pushing for a national system of pensions not dependent on jobs, as well as national health care, Nelson Lichtenstein, a history professor at the University of California Santa Barbara, told Vox. They did win Social Security, but with many people left out, such as <a href="https://www.urban.org/sites/default/files/publication/100697/african_american_economic_security_and_the_role_of_social_security.pdf">agricultural and domestic workers</a>, it wasn’t a full nationwide retirement system. And when it came to universal health care, they lost entirely.</p> <p>So “the unions said, okay, we can’t get this on a national basis, which we think is the most equitable, rational, cheapest,” Lichtenstein said. “We’ll link it to the job.”</p> <p>Job-linked benefits like health insurance rose during World War II, when inflation made employers reluctant to raise wages — so they added benefits instead. “Perks” like health care were also a way to keep workers happy so they wouldn’t leave.</p> <p>Meanwhile, in 1938, the 40-hour workweek was enshrined in labor law, putting an end to six- and seven-day weeks for many workers and requiring employers to pay overtime for anything above 40 hours. For some, the American job became a one-stop shop where they could get many, if not all, their needs met — all on a (relatively) reasonable schedule.</p> <p>But those jobs were never for all Americans. For example, as with Social Security, domestic and agricultural workers — who were disproportionately Black Americans and other people of color — were excluded from the Fair Labor Standards Act establishing the 40-hour workweek, <a href="https://www.rockefellerfoundation.org/blog/the-new-deal-made-americas-racial-inequality-worse-we-cant-make-the-same-mistake-with-covid-19-economic-crisis/">among other New Deal programs</a>. And whole categories of jobs never offered the kind of wages or benefits that workers in “good” jobs enjoyed.</p> <p>Jobs in retail and hospitality, for example, were considered “women’s jobs” for <a href="https://www.grammarphobia.com/blog/2019/03/pin-money.html">“pin money,”</a> Lichtenstein said. These jobs were low-paying and typically lacked benefits because employers assumed that workers’ husbands or fathers would provide for them.</p> <figure class="e-image"><span class="e-image__inner"><span class="e-image__image" data-original="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22801452/GettyImages_624319784t.jpg"><picture class="c-picture" data-cid="site/picture_element-1629837619_640_33454" data-cdata='{"asset_id":22801452,"ratio":"*"}'><source srcset="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/7wrAUV1dV41N_q3xoLjqsdVHa4g=/0x0:4706x3775/320x0/filters:focal(0x0:4706x3775):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22801452/GettyImages_624319784t.jpg 320w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/RbCcFUvbvWHQmpfbwxO2r2lTK5k=/0x0:4706x3775/520x0/filters:focal(0x0:4706x3775):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22801452/GettyImages_624319784t.jpg 520w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/Zs9lv4apWmLTdA1PYRLB9fAzszo=/0x0:4706x3775/720x0/filters:focal(0x0:4706x3775):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22801452/GettyImages_624319784t.jpg 720w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/4-leQjirsbkcgd0SlCEgp6TAc3k=/0x0:4706x3775/920x0/filters:focal(0x0:4706x3775):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22801452/GettyImages_624319784t.jpg 920w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/iZMS_mKfJs3wCiADGlW-s33okRc=/0x0:4706x3775/1120x0/filters:focal(0x0:4706x3775):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22801452/GettyImages_624319784t.jpg 1120w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/f0WJRjygqt126DeSmtFv3imC3RI=/0x0:4706x3775/1320x0/filters:focal(0x0:4706x3775):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22801452/GettyImages_624319784t.jpg 1320w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/WpDA1EjnrJn4qvsj5g4sHqJX_X8=/0x0:4706x3775/1520x0/filters:focal(0x0:4706x3775):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22801452/GettyImages_624319784t.jpg 1520w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/DkW9cMsn15p7xnBswlSIHMs1dB4=/0x0:4706x3775/1720x0/filters:focal(0x0:4706x3775):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22801452/GettyImages_624319784t.jpg 1720w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/Y395qu5wMa64Ogx6UJUUVFB0LhA=/0x0:4706x3775/1920x0/filters:focal(0x0:4706x3775):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22801452/GettyImages_624319784t.jpg 1920w" sizes="(min-width: 1221px) 846px, (min-width: 880px) calc(100vw - 334px), 100vw" type="image/webp" /> <img alt="" data-upload-width="4706" sizes="(min-width: 1221px) 846px, (min-width: 880px) calc(100vw - 334px), 100vw" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/IROQ1xfMpxkamKOHmyJd8QMRDiI=/0x0:4706x3775/1200x0/filters:focal(0x0:4706x3775):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22801452/GettyImages_624319784t.jpg" srcset="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/tk0LHV6FcyYQgGokyJOflHrGCwk=/0x0:4706x3775/320x0/filters:focal(0x0:4706x3775):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22801452/GettyImages_624319784t.jpg 320w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/XjLBsAWq7ozw7XEU3BVb6XkI9VA=/0x0:4706x3775/520x0/filters:focal(0x0:4706x3775):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22801452/GettyImages_624319784t.jpg 520w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/lb3vMvgxVM002hA9sXJh96iesR4=/0x0:4706x3775/720x0/filters:focal(0x0:4706x3775):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22801452/GettyImages_624319784t.jpg 720w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/47SoLAfnKLWwbdeEae9mgTMBuqE=/0x0:4706x3775/920x0/filters:focal(0x0:4706x3775):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22801452/GettyImages_624319784t.jpg 920w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/BKx-1rVZ_v3zKcxoEbZNBy7YmY4=/0x0:4706x3775/1120x0/filters:focal(0x0:4706x3775):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22801452/GettyImages_624319784t.jpg 1120w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/ePkX3gAW2sNzKThe8lrXgyptlO0=/0x0:4706x3775/1320x0/filters:focal(0x0:4706x3775):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22801452/GettyImages_624319784t.jpg 1320w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/qSI5nKBxJmEjBn23ZUpedvHklms=/0x0:4706x3775/1520x0/filters:focal(0x0:4706x3775):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22801452/GettyImages_624319784t.jpg 1520w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/u9cuw-cQ0nt_5wfNoJqSciUtVBs=/0x0:4706x3775/1720x0/filters:focal(0x0:4706x3775):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22801452/GettyImages_624319784t.jpg 1720w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/d7gWzPv4Uw5Juju9TM1gXq4skQ0=/0x0:4706x3775/1920x0/filters:focal(0x0:4706x3775):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22801452/GettyImages_624319784t.jpg 1920w" /></picture></span></span> <figcaption><span class="e-image__meta">A young mother presents her ration book to a butcher working at a deli in Hyde Park, New York, circa 1943.</span></figcaption> <span class="e-image__meta"><cite>Smith Collection/Gado via Getty Images</cite></span></figure> <p>But over the past 70 years or so, retail, hospitality, and other service jobs have proliferated while the manufacturing sector and others that once provided well-paid jobs with benefits have shrunk. That’s part of the reason American wages stagnated and more and <a href="https://www.kff.org/report-section/the-uninsured-and-the-aca-a-primer-key-facts-about-health-insurance-and-the-uninsured-amidst-changes-to-the-affordable-care-act-how-many-people-are-uninsured/">more people had to go without health insurance</a> (at least before the passage of the Affordable Care Act). “To a degree, the crisis today in work is because of this huge expansion of the service sector, which was not covered by the kind of regulations or unions or social norms that we once expected,” Lichtenstein said.</p> <p>Other factors, too, combined to make jobs worse. <a href="https://www.vox.com/22568452/work-workweek-five-day-four-jobs-pandemic">Long hours became more common</a> as more and more workers were declared exempt from the 40-hour standard. The rise of <a href="https://www.vox.com/22545398/jobs-quitting-retail-workers-pandemic-sales">“just-in-time scheduling”</a> made retail and other service work increasingly unpredictable, leaving workers unsure if they’d get enough hours to be able to pay rent, or be able to find child care during their ever-changing shifts. And some jobs themselves changed to become less pleasant. Retail, for example, “moved toward more customer self-service and away from the sort of skilled model of retail selling,” which meant less opportunity to interact with customers and hone sales techniques, and more of an emphasis on mechanically keeping people moving through a store, Peter Ikeler, a sociology professor at SUNY Old Westbury, told Vox in a June interview.</p> <p>Overall, by 2020, the American job had fallen far, far from its midcentury ideal. Then the pandemic hit.</p> <p>As Covid-19 spread around the country, jobs became even more difficult for huge swaths of American workers. While some front-line workers, like doctors, are highly paid, many are the same service workers who have had to contend with low pay and a lack of benefits — including health insurance and paid sick leave — for years. As one worker put it in <a href="https://www.vox.com/2020/4/23/21229942/coronavirus-grocery-store-workers-walmart-covid-pandemic">an interview with Vox last year</a>, “I did not sign up for the military. I signed up for Walmart.”</p> <p>Even for those able to work remotely, however, the pandemic has had an immense impact on work. With school buildings and day cares closed, millions of Americans were stuck trying to manage remote school while working at the same time — working moms spent <a href="https://19thnews.org/2021/08/moms-child-care-pandemic-full-time-job/">an average of eight hours a day</a> on child care last year, on top of six hours a day on work. And for parents and non-parents alike, remote work during the pandemic hasn’t been the same as taking a casual work-from-home day in the Before Time — it’s been a nonstop slog of trying to be productive from underneath the weight of crushing existential dread. As David Blustein, a professor of counseling psychology at Boston College, <a href="https://www.vox.com/22536756/covid-pandemic-quarantine-lockdown-productivity-hobbies-work">put it to Vox in June</a>, “managing anxiety is time-consuming.”</p> <p>And even some of the most high-profile jobs in America have become less fulfilling during the pandemic. Professional and Olympic athletes have talked about the difficulties of competing in isolation, without family, friends, or fans. “We’ve basically just gone from bubble to bubble to bubble, all around the world,” professional tennis player Jamie Murray <a href="https://apnews.com/article/europe-sports-tennis-health-coronavirus-pandemic-1eca0e1a9fe0606e45853be137ccae9e">told the Associated Press</a> last year. It’s perhaps no surprise that sports stars like <a href="https://www.vox.com/22596341/simone-biles-withdrawal-osaka-olympics-mental-health">Naomi Osaka and Simone Biles</a> have stepped back from certain events during the pandemic, a time that has taxed athletes’ mental health as well as everyone else’s.</p> <p>The pandemic has called into question many Americans’ psychological and emotional relationships with their jobs. Work has long been a social outlet for Americans — we’re more likely to make new friends through our jobs than any other setting, including school, neighborhood, or through existing friendships, <a href="https://www.americansurveycenter.org/research/the-state-of-american-friendship-change-challenges-and-loss/">according to the Survey Center on American Life</a>. But for remote workers, the pandemic put an end to coffee-room chitchat and elevator banter, making jobs that much more utilitarian (though it’s worth noting that <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/2021/07/24/black-women-office-work-home/">for some Black workers</a> and other people of color, working from home has also been a welcome break from office microaggressions).</p> <figure class="e-image"><span class="e-image__inner"><span class="e-image__image" data-original="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22802769/GettyImages_1228836162t.jpg"><picture class="c-picture" data-cid="site/picture_element-1629837619_8870_33455" data-cdata='{"asset_id":22802769,"ratio":"*"}'><source srcset="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/FowwVVXKAbQjhTH6MFd-Cj0MjBM=/0x0:3900x2600/320x0/filters:focal(0x0:3900x2600):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22802769/GettyImages_1228836162t.jpg 320w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/ee5bDI7f0eAt7VDrff51E_vFftY=/0x0:3900x2600/520x0/filters:focal(0x0:3900x2600):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22802769/GettyImages_1228836162t.jpg 520w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/JgnkgvEbKgGqXn888reki1unL2Y=/0x0:3900x2600/720x0/filters:focal(0x0:3900x2600):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22802769/GettyImages_1228836162t.jpg 720w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/xZETFInkfkd6PKbPizVkTFW_cHQ=/0x0:3900x2600/920x0/filters:focal(0x0:3900x2600):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22802769/GettyImages_1228836162t.jpg 920w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/KkAJ9h_5wWXFieUR_Eyf1W6znjY=/0x0:3900x2600/1120x0/filters:focal(0x0:3900x2600):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22802769/GettyImages_1228836162t.jpg 1120w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/TSkThieOmwIA43B39pqys_Nlq-4=/0x0:3900x2600/1320x0/filters:focal(0x0:3900x2600):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22802769/GettyImages_1228836162t.jpg 1320w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/tsb26oqeSu41L-PfSG-CXkgq2dk=/0x0:3900x2600/1520x0/filters:focal(0x0:3900x2600):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22802769/GettyImages_1228836162t.jpg 1520w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/g-bT7cTXgti53hTqL0tgT5SAA88=/0x0:3900x2600/1720x0/filters:focal(0x0:3900x2600):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22802769/GettyImages_1228836162t.jpg 1720w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/TDcfDgCOhn1mCOFcZ8W3w1HWHwk=/0x0:3900x2600/1920x0/filters:focal(0x0:3900x2600):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22802769/GettyImages_1228836162t.jpg 1920w" sizes="(min-width: 1221px) 846px, (min-width: 880px) calc(100vw - 334px), 100vw" type="image/webp" /> <img alt="" data-upload-width="3900" sizes="(min-width: 1221px) 846px, (min-width: 880px) calc(100vw - 334px), 100vw" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/Tb_6Y__AtaT9qv79UV0HGfRhVh0=/0x0:3900x2600/1200x0/filters:focal(0x0:3900x2600):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22802769/GettyImages_1228836162t.jpg" srcset="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/U9xwJArKevv5Q62RcYxHfVeKJTs=/0x0:3900x2600/320x0/filters:focal(0x0:3900x2600):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22802769/GettyImages_1228836162t.jpg 320w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/5pVlJ_MDtRlJRpW_47hrww0w1gM=/0x0:3900x2600/520x0/filters:focal(0x0:3900x2600):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22802769/GettyImages_1228836162t.jpg 520w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/MRJE0bpBrJM1pR4KRAlKjYQ9B80=/0x0:3900x2600/720x0/filters:focal(0x0:3900x2600):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22802769/GettyImages_1228836162t.jpg 720w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/A-1zU4qiiILprLRLxCdr7JAC_94=/0x0:3900x2600/920x0/filters:focal(0x0:3900x2600):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22802769/GettyImages_1228836162t.jpg 920w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/JU4Y8mTiEeadMwm_Xgqcz7R_TTg=/0x0:3900x2600/1120x0/filters:focal(0x0:3900x2600):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22802769/GettyImages_1228836162t.jpg 1120w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/tnKmddCNKF23dInoXPEHyufmZpU=/0x0:3900x2600/1320x0/filters:focal(0x0:3900x2600):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22802769/GettyImages_1228836162t.jpg 1320w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/L_DRirHhE-D2QzWxYjVKVjouCnA=/0x0:3900x2600/1520x0/filters:focal(0x0:3900x2600):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22802769/GettyImages_1228836162t.jpg 1520w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/uB9PxyYFtkqeyjBHVA7gm-1Z6vI=/0x0:3900x2600/1720x0/filters:focal(0x0:3900x2600):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22802769/GettyImages_1228836162t.jpg 1720w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/16xl_OCabsPZdcKbBVgxiSePSC8=/0x0:3900x2600/1920x0/filters:focal(0x0:3900x2600):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22802769/GettyImages_1228836162t.jpg 1920w" /></picture></span></span> <figcaption><span class="e-image__meta">A flyer for “The Confess Project,” a local mental health initiative, is seen inside a barbershop in Jackson, Mississippi, on September 26, 2020.</span></figcaption> <span class="e-image__meta"><cite>Chandan Khanna/AFP via Getty Images</cite></span></figure> <p>Meanwhile, for many Americans, work isn’t just something they do — it’s part of who they are. The idea that “you don’t get something for nothing” — that we must work to earn the necessities of life — dates back to the Protestant Reformation of the 16th century, Livingston, the Rutgers historian, told Vox. And thinkers from Benjamin Franklin to Karl Marx have put forth various versions of the idea that “work gives meaning to life,” Lichtenstein said.</p> <p>But the late 20th and early 21st centuries saw an even more extreme version of that idea, with college-educated people — those who, presumably, had more choices about their work — putting in longer and longer hours and ranking career more and more highly among their priorities in life. <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2019/02/religion-workism-making-americans-miserable/583441/">The Atlantic’s Derek Thompson</a> calls it “workism,” or “the belief that work is not only necessary to economic production, but also the centerpiece of one’s identity and life’s purpose.”</p> <p>That idea has taken a big hit during the pandemic, with many people questioning the outsize role work plays in their lives. “I realized I was sitting at my kitchen counter 10 hours a day feeling miserable,” Brett Williams, a lawyer who left his partner position for a less time-consuming job at a small firm, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/04/21/technology/welcome-to-the-yolo-economy.html">told the New York Times this spring</a>. “I just thought: ‘What do I have to lose? We could all die tomorrow.’”</p> <figure class="e-image"><span class="e-image__inner"><span class="e-image__image" data-original="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22802827/GettyImages_1208882806t.jpg"><picture class="c-picture" data-cid="site/picture_element-1629837619_3784_33456" data-cdata='{"asset_id":22802827,"ratio":"*"}'><source srcset="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/8NMJOqWPpFz0zeU2wq5wyZTJzb8=/0x0:4000x2652/320x0/filters:focal(0x0:4000x2652):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22802827/GettyImages_1208882806t.jpg 320w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/YoDu_xyCSqG0PkxgamlGtHfoUyk=/0x0:4000x2652/520x0/filters:focal(0x0:4000x2652):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22802827/GettyImages_1208882806t.jpg 520w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/KWruJbXdqwYfPL2g0Vhve84Mdkg=/0x0:4000x2652/720x0/filters:focal(0x0:4000x2652):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22802827/GettyImages_1208882806t.jpg 720w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/kC62wQo4KoWGtvXRnN1lpEXOc0s=/0x0:4000x2652/920x0/filters:focal(0x0:4000x2652):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22802827/GettyImages_1208882806t.jpg 920w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/MpSF9XKe9MLylcTMtI9_YyN-Ufo=/0x0:4000x2652/1120x0/filters:focal(0x0:4000x2652):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22802827/GettyImages_1208882806t.jpg 1120w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/g3gngNsk7Vytn1FdLogyVmEse1I=/0x0:4000x2652/1320x0/filters:focal(0x0:4000x2652):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22802827/GettyImages_1208882806t.jpg 1320w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/J_5KnEIVgCnYGqGWx5AEkQ38thY=/0x0:4000x2652/1520x0/filters:focal(0x0:4000x2652):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22802827/GettyImages_1208882806t.jpg 1520w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/ziExcGVb-1LrkwRzHx7BNPHRKUk=/0x0:4000x2652/1720x0/filters:focal(0x0:4000x2652):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22802827/GettyImages_1208882806t.jpg 1720w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/zkcDHxSNGtKyfuYEHcTcIMLe48Q=/0x0:4000x2652/1920x0/filters:focal(0x0:4000x2652):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22802827/GettyImages_1208882806t.jpg 1920w" sizes="(min-width: 1221px) 846px, (min-width: 880px) calc(100vw - 334px), 100vw" type="image/webp" /> <img alt="" data-upload-width="4000" sizes="(min-width: 1221px) 846px, (min-width: 880px) calc(100vw - 334px), 100vw" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/eF2_vsUdFLaS4p7bbd1b1Vfz0g4=/0x0:4000x2652/1200x0/filters:focal(0x0:4000x2652):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22802827/GettyImages_1208882806t.jpg" srcset="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/5iGVTrcrZVq5zLL-4zQl0N-BpR4=/0x0:4000x2652/320x0/filters:focal(0x0:4000x2652):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22802827/GettyImages_1208882806t.jpg 320w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/4YNRUhg03HMXm4IYyqXf1zZsjqk=/0x0:4000x2652/520x0/filters:focal(0x0:4000x2652):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22802827/GettyImages_1208882806t.jpg 520w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/3GZ-oTEoUMUl4NvkpNM8DgReqCA=/0x0:4000x2652/720x0/filters:focal(0x0:4000x2652):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22802827/GettyImages_1208882806t.jpg 720w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/nXWZ5qmJ8iMEHlsvzJX-_PVMtp8=/0x0:4000x2652/920x0/filters:focal(0x0:4000x2652):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22802827/GettyImages_1208882806t.jpg 920w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/davuhAdper4Q3olt8phRQomOM2E=/0x0:4000x2652/1120x0/filters:focal(0x0:4000x2652):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22802827/GettyImages_1208882806t.jpg 1120w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/PGneOBhQ3Odu4TR0VaYP1JpyihE=/0x0:4000x2652/1320x0/filters:focal(0x0:4000x2652):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22802827/GettyImages_1208882806t.jpg 1320w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/RX8Uk3z9WZL2l8f_yIumMQPVcso=/0x0:4000x2652/1520x0/filters:focal(0x0:4000x2652):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22802827/GettyImages_1208882806t.jpg 1520w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/D1kvitPDUOA-7LGn7N711Gnwwlw=/0x0:4000x2652/1720x0/filters:focal(0x0:4000x2652):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22802827/GettyImages_1208882806t.jpg 1720w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/3TOYUxLcbO0-13kvZqCtkjTcg_0=/0x0:4000x2652/1920x0/filters:focal(0x0:4000x2652):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22802827/GettyImages_1208882806t.jpg 1920w" /></picture></span></span> <figcaption><span class="e-image__meta">A school substitute teacher works from her home during the coronavirus pandemic on April 1, 2020, in Arlington, Virginia.</span></figcaption> <span class="e-image__meta"><cite>Oliver Douliery/AFP via Getty Images</cite></span></figure> <p>Millions of Americans, from professional sectors like law and business to lower-paid <a href="https://www.vox.com/22545398/jobs-quitting-retail-workers-pandemic-sales">retail work</a>, have left their jobs in recent months, often seeking alternatives that are safer, lower-stress, or both. In some cases, the disruption of the pandemic, during which many people have been laid off or furloughed, may actually have provided the impetus for change. Those disruptions “gave breathing space for a lot of workers to rethink: ‘I have to go back to work. And now what should it be?’” Stephanie Luce, a professor of labor studies at CUNY, <a href="https://www.vox.com/22545398/jobs-quitting-retail-workers-pandemic-sales">told Vox earlier this year</a>.</p> <p>It’s not just individual workers. The pandemic has also shown a lot of employers and employees that big changes to the way we work are possible — whether that’s working from home or taking time off in the middle of the day to care for a child. Even if some of those changes aren’t necessarily ideal, the point is that a job doesn’t need to be a rigid, all-consuming grind that crowds out everything else in life.</p> <p>The pandemic has laid bare that “organizations can still survive and do well if you accommodate, to a reasonable degree, the needs of your staff and your workforce,” Michelle Holder, an associate professor of economics at John Jay College of Criminal Justice, told Vox.</p> <p>Essentially, the past year and a half has shown Americans that a lot of jobs are terrible and that they don’t have to be. So what now?</p> <p>The answers vary. At a minimum, many say, it’s time to make jobs better. For Holder, that starts with wages. “The federal minimum wage at $7.25 an hour is just incredibly inadequate, given the cost of living today,” she said. A family of three with a breadwinner making the federal minimum — also the minimum in 21 states — falls below the federal poverty line. “If you are working full time, you should not be considered officially poor in this country,” Holder said.</p> <p>Efforts to raise the federal minimum wage have <a href="https://www.vox.com/2021/2/25/22299034/15-dollar-minimum-wage-senate-parliamentarian">faced opposition</a> from Republicans and centrist Democrats, but it remains a critical step, Holder said. Meanwhile, unions and other workers’ rights groups continue to push for higher wages — Restaurant Opportunities Centers United (ROC United), which works on behalf of low-wage restaurant workers, for example, <a href="https://www.vox.com/22455058/jobs-restaurants-office-employers-covid-pandemic-work">advocates for a true living wage</a>, which it puts at as much as $24 an hour in some places.</p> <p>Beyond higher wages, better jobs would offer paid leave and health insurance as well as a safe working environment and flexibility in terms of when and where people work. That includes “a serious conversation about this rush back to the office,” Holder said, and whether having everyone in one place from 9 to 5 (or longer), five days a week, is really necessary.</p> <p>Meanwhile, some are asking whether contemporary jobs really need to take up 40 hours of our week. A recent experiment with <a href="https://www.vox.com/22568452/work-workweek-five-day-four-jobs-pandemic">shorter workweeks</a> in Iceland was a big success and generated headlines around the world, and American companies like <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/family/archive/2021/06/kickstarter-four-day-workweek/619263/">Kickstarter</a> are now trying out the idea.</p> <p>Recent interest in shorter workweeks is part of a larger shift among millennials and younger workers toward “living our lives rather than making a living” and accumulating money and possessions, Benjamin Hunnicutt, a historian at the University of Iowa, told Vox. Younger workers today are more likely to prioritize “having more time to experience their lives rather than waking up my age on the deathbed and regretting that I hadn’t spent time with my granddaughter,” he said.</p> <p>And beyond the way we spend our time, some are questioning whether so many aspects of American life need to be tied to our jobs. Universal health care and a universal retirement system, like what labor unions were pushing for back in the 1940s, would liberate Americans, to some degree, from the tyranny of our jobs. “If you have universal benefits, not linked to the job, that means that workers can take a look at the job on its own and make decisions,” Lichtenstein said.</p> <p>That’s happened to some extent in the pandemic, with federal stimulus money making it a bit easier for unemployed workers to hold out for jobs with good pay and conditions. “The lousiest jobs are the ones that have been having trouble filling up,” Lichtenstein said.</p> <p>But some experts have proposed bigger changes to decouple jobs from Americans’ most basic needs. A team at the New School’s Institute on Race and Political Economy <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/06/13/opinion/stimulus-unemployment-republicans-poverty.html?action=click&module=RelatedLinks&pgtype=Article">has proposed</a> a guaranteed annual income of $12,500 per adult and $4,500 per child, phasing out at the national median income. Giving people money is “the most direct and parsimonious way to eliminate poverty,” Darrick Hamilton, the director of the institute and one of the authors of the plan, told Vox.</p> <p>The plan isn’t meant to put an end to jobs — it should actually be coupled, Hamilton said, with a federal job guarantee. People would still work; some research shows that providing people with a basic income actually <a href="https://www.marketplace.org/2021/04/07/does-universal-basic-income-discourage-work-maybe-not-new-data-says/">increases employment</a>. But they would have more power to demand fair conditions or to quit an abusive job and find a better one because they would have a basic safety net in place. The plan would give workers “authentic agency,” Hamilton said, something that’s lacking in a system where poverty leaves millions of Americans — disproportionately people of color and women — vulnerable to exploitation.</p> <p>Such a plan, or any of a number of other approaches to severing our basic livelihoods from wage work, would surely face political opposition, as they would likely require significant tax increases. They would also require changing a fundamental American belief: that we should have to earn the basic necessities of life through our jobs.</p> <p>However, some say the idea that we actually earn our income has already been exposed as a fraud — just look at the fact that the average CEO made <a href="https://news.yahoo.com/average-ceo-made-nearly-300-213248348.html">almost 300 times the median worker salary</a> last year, a gap that’s only growing. “If we can detach income from work — and that’s what’s happened in the labor market — why not just do that?” Livingston asked.</p> <p>For now, it seems like a fairy tale — the idea that Americans could choose to work or not work based on their desire, rather than the threat of starvation. But maybe, in some ways, the pandemic has brought that fairy tale a little closer to reality.</p> <div class="c-wide-block"> <figure class="e-image"><span class="e-image__inner"><span class="e-image__image" data-original="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22802892/GettyImages_1303037326t.jpg"><picture class="c-picture" data-cid="site/picture_element-1629837619_6724_33457" data-cdata='{"asset_id":22802892,"ratio":"*"}'><source srcset="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/BR1-HFXN_fXR_S-GjhYHp2wBzVw=/0x0:4000x2667/320x0/filters:focal(0x0:4000x2667):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22802892/GettyImages_1303037326t.jpg 320w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/nOhGmD5A7Ap91f9R0IgCtaeZP8I=/0x0:4000x2667/520x0/filters:focal(0x0:4000x2667):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22802892/GettyImages_1303037326t.jpg 520w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/75p4Phdtc_OvBlQ1Ap6D461OR98=/0x0:4000x2667/720x0/filters:focal(0x0:4000x2667):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22802892/GettyImages_1303037326t.jpg 720w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/ynnBv8xMoR9PM-iWlkwr4iTCtow=/0x0:4000x2667/920x0/filters:focal(0x0:4000x2667):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22802892/GettyImages_1303037326t.jpg 920w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/u3nbFFj-G075CVFC8nYCGA-f3TU=/0x0:4000x2667/1120x0/filters:focal(0x0:4000x2667):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22802892/GettyImages_1303037326t.jpg 1120w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/2saq-VQoWoAjAfU4we5OJWA2Cl4=/0x0:4000x2667/1320x0/filters:focal(0x0:4000x2667):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22802892/GettyImages_1303037326t.jpg 1320w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/h9YIBoxW6OsfYpRHxMBUY2WnNsU=/0x0:4000x2667/1520x0/filters:focal(0x0:4000x2667):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22802892/GettyImages_1303037326t.jpg 1520w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/4E1S9KL_n91jaJTd2AaDoyCyhaM=/0x0:4000x2667/1720x0/filters:focal(0x0:4000x2667):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22802892/GettyImages_1303037326t.jpg 1720w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/sv5Il1SCERGrFbFxSVqU_eNdj54=/0x0:4000x2667/1920x0/filters:focal(0x0:4000x2667):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22802892/GettyImages_1303037326t.jpg 1920w" sizes="90vw" type="image/webp" /> <img alt="" data-upload-width="4000" sizes="90vw" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/mSw3jcyihGnBVflS42CrKLYFfzw=/0x0:4000x2667/1200x0/filters:focal(0x0:4000x2667):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22802892/GettyImages_1303037326t.jpg" srcset="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/GINM0L7BW2s9koWFUFDSlwQ7rwY=/0x0:4000x2667/320x0/filters:focal(0x0:4000x2667):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22802892/GettyImages_1303037326t.jpg 320w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/e71iZkfXUxJJWrDrdDPfsIiF3Ng=/0x0:4000x2667/520x0/filters:focal(0x0:4000x2667):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22802892/GettyImages_1303037326t.jpg 520w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/mjvDhpEcHsRwqyCynAvqgJU1-yk=/0x0:4000x2667/720x0/filters:focal(0x0:4000x2667):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22802892/GettyImages_1303037326t.jpg 720w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/8be_TQ5Xdl_n8Fx2YS3GbPp6sM8=/0x0:4000x2667/920x0/filters:focal(0x0:4000x2667):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22802892/GettyImages_1303037326t.jpg 920w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/UpKikgyR8URvwoM02sfygU1SyEo=/0x0:4000x2667/1120x0/filters:focal(0x0:4000x2667):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22802892/GettyImages_1303037326t.jpg 1120w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/S0BZrb8qa36cglgoM6S2sFGv3UQ=/0x0:4000x2667/1320x0/filters:focal(0x0:4000x2667):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22802892/GettyImages_1303037326t.jpg 1320w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/IxPGrQ46kxbXwJ-62Jbn6kyd8Kk=/0x0:4000x2667/1520x0/filters:focal(0x0:4000x2667):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22802892/GettyImages_1303037326t.jpg 1520w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/FByZSYZoDAtyyW-xkNpl3e17iMs=/0x0:4000x2667/1720x0/filters:focal(0x0:4000x2667):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22802892/GettyImages_1303037326t.jpg 1720w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/Kjpt1swKEJTR8OC-b1TH5LqgT_k=/0x0:4000x2667/1920x0/filters:focal(0x0:4000x2667):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22802892/GettyImages_1303037326t.jpg 1920w" /></picture></span></span> <figcaption><span class="e-image__meta">A worker picks tomatoes at a farm owned and operated by Pacific Tomato Growers on February 19, 2021, in Immokalee, Florida.</span></figcaption> <span class="e-image__meta"><cite>Spencer Platt/Getty Images</cite></span></figure> </div> <br /> <br /> source <a href="https://www.vox.com/22621892/jobs-work-pandemic-covid-great-resignation-2021">https://www.vox.com/22621892/jobs-work-pandemic-covid-great-resignation-2021</a>

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The Jennifer Lopez-Ben Affleck recoupling is the greatest gossip story we’ve had in years

<p>If there is a shining bright spot in the world right now, it’s the reunion of Bennifer, the greatest celebrity gossip story the world has experienced in years. Since Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez first reunited this spring after breaking off their engagement in 2004, they’ve been gracing the world with photos of their coupledom: glowy, aspirational “this is what Hollywood love looks like” iconography. The reception has been one of overwhelming delight.</p> <p>Yet the rapturous reception to Bennifer 2.0 is a far cry from the world’s fascination with Bennifer 1.0. Then, the public treated the relationship as tacky, embarrassing, tarnishing both their images. Now it’s discussed as the only good thing in the world.</p> <p>“This story is GOOD FOR GOSSIP,” <a href="https://www.laineygossip.com/jennifer-lopez-shopping-in-monte-carlo-wearing-necklace-spelling-out-ben-after-celebrating-her-birthday-on-yacht-with-ben-affleck/69071">opined gossip columnist Elaine Lui at her blog Lainey Gossip in July</a>. “It’s good gossip. It’s guilt-free gossip!” The lack of guilt that comes with glorying in the reunion of Bennifer is, as Lui notes, an unusual feature of celebrity voyeurism these days.</p> <p>“As we have learned over the years, a lot of the gossip that we used to participate in has been revisited, and history has shown us our asses,” Lui explains. She’s referring to <a href="https://www.vox.com/culture/22350286/2000s-pop-culture-misogyny-britney-spears-janet-jackson-whitney-houston-monica-lewinsky">the recent revelations</a> that have made the celebrity gossip era of decades past feel even crueler and more tawdry with hindsight than it did at the time: <a href="https://www.vox.com/culture/22565683/britney-spears-conservatorship-testimony">what happened with Britney Spears</a>, <a href="https://www.vox.com/culture/22295290/woody-allen-mia-farrow-timeline-hbo">what happened with Dylan Farrow</a>. “But Bennifer Summer 2021? We’re not looking back on this moment in 10 years with regret.”</p> <p>Nonetheless, Bennifer 2.0 <em>is</em> a revisitation — and it is, in fact, showing us our asses a little bit. Bennifer 1.0 was very much a relationship of the early 2000s, the same era that is currently <a href="https://www.vox.com/culture/22350286/2000s-pop-culture-misogyny-britney-spears-janet-jackson-whitney-houston-monica-lewinsky">under much reexamination</a>. (<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P103bWMdvtA">Quoth Lorde</a>: “Don’t you think the early 2000s seem so far away?”) And the changes between the way we talked about Ben and Jen then and the way we talk about them now show us a lot about how the culture has shifted over the past 20 years.</p> <figure class="e-image"><span class="e-image__inner"><span class="e-image__image" data-original="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22800530/105793656.jpg"><picture class="c-picture" data-cid="site/picture_element-1629838488_9662_72204" data-cdata='{"asset_id":22800530,"ratio":"*"}'><source srcset="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/r_MBBf7NrCLY0vd0NWsL2Nqss2I=/0x0:3000x1953/320x0/filters:focal(0x0:3000x1953):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22800530/105793656.jpg 320w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/esJIY8U_ro17svBma3A07F4DTPk=/0x0:3000x1953/520x0/filters:focal(0x0:3000x1953):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22800530/105793656.jpg 520w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/4x3fwt225h7bDNcZFLaBY2r0-yU=/0x0:3000x1953/720x0/filters:focal(0x0:3000x1953):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22800530/105793656.jpg 720w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/ZJOf1nRVFCWg3L2jGilNv59qYcU=/0x0:3000x1953/920x0/filters:focal(0x0:3000x1953):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22800530/105793656.jpg 920w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/cniZDwSiXXAqV9ESns9rctvVamQ=/0x0:3000x1953/1120x0/filters:focal(0x0:3000x1953):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22800530/105793656.jpg 1120w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/oGVypPDz6stdS1u64r4CrCL5DAg=/0x0:3000x1953/1320x0/filters:focal(0x0:3000x1953):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22800530/105793656.jpg 1320w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/OAuAsY6Q1BI_WZwzKsaGqOp-Wvo=/0x0:3000x1953/1520x0/filters:focal(0x0:3000x1953):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22800530/105793656.jpg 1520w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/Y18aYzXGjB3QdHIZPbOZmcgQmiU=/0x0:3000x1953/1720x0/filters:focal(0x0:3000x1953):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22800530/105793656.jpg 1720w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/mE6ykvccttEj1jm5mf4XasKx3D0=/0x0:3000x1953/1920x0/filters:focal(0x0:3000x1953):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22800530/105793656.jpg 1920w" sizes="(min-width: 1221px) 846px, (min-width: 880px) calc(100vw - 334px), 100vw" type="image/webp" /> <img alt="" data-upload-width="3000" sizes="(min-width: 1221px) 846px, (min-width: 880px) calc(100vw - 334px), 100vw" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/JXs-BKg2GiJQ9I9r0alBVHUb6kQ=/0x0:3000x1953/1200x0/filters:focal(0x0:3000x1953):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22800530/105793656.jpg" srcset="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/eTIoF9eLXFLmz0emUpZCcUw8Epk=/0x0:3000x1953/320x0/filters:focal(0x0:3000x1953):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22800530/105793656.jpg 320w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/BByUBnxbK4D89Ub6UmsBmy_HQUI=/0x0:3000x1953/520x0/filters:focal(0x0:3000x1953):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22800530/105793656.jpg 520w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/tAMZzbbdfV3oM_L12QaQqyHo57w=/0x0:3000x1953/720x0/filters:focal(0x0:3000x1953):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22800530/105793656.jpg 720w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/9gvK0x7a7xtQjT4R39URUtcyQPc=/0x0:3000x1953/920x0/filters:focal(0x0:3000x1953):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22800530/105793656.jpg 920w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/L69vHAOApTcb92s6jXr3nmIrfk0=/0x0:3000x1953/1120x0/filters:focal(0x0:3000x1953):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22800530/105793656.jpg 1120w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/_RB-JuBQaCxRlBhN-cGHvD1tklQ=/0x0:3000x1953/1320x0/filters:focal(0x0:3000x1953):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22800530/105793656.jpg 1320w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/mnpGkFSET77oMh0R7xg9ObReZ8s=/0x0:3000x1953/1520x0/filters:focal(0x0:3000x1953):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22800530/105793656.jpg 1520w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/sq0-d_VO5gL_4jIjX-AjlizB1d0=/0x0:3000x1953/1720x0/filters:focal(0x0:3000x1953):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22800530/105793656.jpg 1720w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/hWAlJ2BBEf9wS5xMdPgFhSv0dYI=/0x0:3000x1953/1920x0/filters:focal(0x0:3000x1953):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22800530/105793656.jpg 1920w" /></picture></span></span> <figcaption><span class="e-image__meta">Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck sign autographs at the premiere of <em>Gigli</em> in 2003.</span></figcaption> <span class="e-image__meta"><cite>L. Cohen/WireImage</cite></span></figure> <p>Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck met in 2002, co-starring in the action comedy <em>Gigli</em>. It was to become an infamous flop, but the pair didn’t know that then. They have also strongly maintained that nothing actually happened between them while they were filming because Lopez was married to Cris Judd at the time.</p> <p>As Lopez’s marriage to Judd foundered, however, Affleck seems to have decided to shoot his shot. Foreshadowing the highly public nature of their relationship, his move was to <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2002/12/15/magazine/the-year-in-ideas-flirtation-by-full-page-ad.html">take out a full-page ad in trade magazines</a> about how great Lopez was. (<a href="https://archive.vanityfair.com/article/2003/3/bens-open-road">He would later say</a> he did it to try to correct the public perception that Lopez was a diva who’s difficult to work with.)</p> <p>The pair were first seen <a href="https://nypost.com/2002/07/25/outpouring-of-affleck-tion-at-j-los-bash-photo-exclusive/">publicly canoodling in July 2002</a>, shortly before <a href="https://people.com/celebrity/j-lo-cris-judd-file-for-divorce/">Lopez filed for divorce from Judd</a>. By November, they were engaged. The new relationship was met with an immediate outpouring of public fascination.</p> <p>Beautiful, glamorous Jennifer Lopez and handsome, talented Ben Affleck were magazine draws on their own — but together, they had massive publicity appeal. Between August of 2002 and March 2004, the rising Us Weekly would <a href="https://www.usmagazine.com/celebrity-news/pictures/jennifer-lopezs-us-weekly-covers-2014227/39553/">devote 12 covers to the phenomenon of Bennifer</a>. The pair announced their engagement in an exclusive <em>Primetime</em> interview. “At this rate, a pay-per-view wedding does not seem out of the question,” <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2002/12/15/magazine/the-year-in-ideas-flirtation-by-full-page-ad.html">snarked the New York Times</a>.</p> <div> <div>[embedded content]</div> </div> <p>Lopez and Affleck attempted to satirize the flood of attention in November 2002, when Lopez released the video for “<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dly6p4Fu5TE">Jenny From the Block</a>.” Co-starring a clean-shaven and prettied-up Affleck, the video sees the pair cuddling on a yacht. Affleck presses a kiss to Lopez’s famous butt, and paparazzi aim telephoto lenses in their direction. The idea was for Bennifer to perform a cheeky lampoon of their own personas — but the parody didn’t land.</p> <p>Bennifer was so oversaturated at this point that the public, thoroughly sick of them, considered the video to be an embarrassment. How dare these movie stars complain about being rich and hot and in love? The video, people concluded, was really pretty trashy.</p> <p>“Poor J-Lo couldn’t lounge on her yacht, be adored in a hot tub, or wear her $1 million engagement ring without someone taking her picture,” wrote Justine Ashley Costanza in the International Business Times. “It’s not easy being overly wealthy superstars. The video’s premise shows Lopez dealing with the perils of fame the only way she knows how ... by taking off most of what she’s wearing.”</p> <p>“They were young, impossibly good-looking, fabulously wealthy, and clearly hot for each other,” <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/film/2021/jan/25/why-gigli-isnt-a-bad-movie-hear-me-out">reasoned the Guardian with hindsight this January</a>, “so it seemed like a good time to knock them down a peg.”</p> <p>The embarrassment of the video would be compounded when <em>Gigli</em> premiered and immediately bombed in August of 2003. Lopez, in an interview with W Magazine, blamed the film’s commercial failure on the overexposure of her relationship. “If you’re in the paper every damn day, people are like, ‘Who cares?’ And then nobody goes to see your movie!” <a href="https://www.wmagazine.com/story/jennifer-lopez-gives-the-lowdown-on-marriage-movies-and-bens-big-night-out">she explained</a>. “It’s like, ‘Why should we? We see her every day,’ and then you’re like, ‘Wait a minute! That’s the only reason I’m doing this!’”</p> <p>To a certain degree, the flood of publicity Bennifer received was publicity they courted, presumably, as Lopez explained, to get people into the theaters for <em>Gigli</em>. Lopez and Affleck were the ones who chose to announce their engagement on <em>Primetime</em>, who brought <em>Dateline</em> into their shared home for <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Nn0BAjbJrs">a lengthy special on their relationship</a>.</p> <p>But the sheer overwhelming force of attention they received is something they couldn’t possibly have anticipated. Their relationship emerged just as Us Weekly transformed itself from monthly trade magazine to weekly gossip rag, just as publishers began pouring money into celebrity tabloids, just as the paparazzi industry was turning into an uncontrollable monster. It was an unprecedented moment, and Lopez and Affleck were both clearly unprepared for the virulence of the attention they brought down on themselves.</p> <p>Affleck, especially, was becoming ever more aware that his hard-earned industry credibility was crumbling. “I’m in the worst place I can be,” <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/07/27/magazine/matt-damon.html">he confided to Matt Damon</a>. “I can sell magazines but not movie tickets.”</p> <p>Affleck and Damon’s mutual agent, Patrick Whitesell, tried calling a gossip editor to ask him to lay off the saturation coverage. “Patrick said, ‘You’re ruining this man’s career,’” <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/07/27/magazine/matt-damon.html">Damon recalled to the New York Times in 2021</a>. “The editor’s response was like, ‘Sorry, they’re buying those issues in Ohio and Kansas, so we’re going to keep putting him on the cover.’”</p> <p>In September of 2003, Affleck and Lopez announced they would be postponing their wedding. In January 2004, amid swirling rumors of infidelity and betrayal, they confirmed that they had broken up.</p> <figure class="e-image"><span class="e-image__inner"><span class="e-image__image" data-original="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22800534/451736387.jpg"><picture class="c-picture" data-cid="site/picture_element-1629838488_6422_72205" data-cdata='{"asset_id":22800534,"ratio":"*"}'><source srcset="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/fWAkQ2rT9qPxBvN_oZ0ojhsBRJw=/0x0:3000x2306/320x0/filters:focal(0x0:3000x2306):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22800534/451736387.jpg 320w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/mjih5b8E8V5sf28CfJS61K7ycrg=/0x0:3000x2306/520x0/filters:focal(0x0:3000x2306):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22800534/451736387.jpg 520w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/agsnz45DlQCBtwdEDFAhlYfOzJo=/0x0:3000x2306/720x0/filters:focal(0x0:3000x2306):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22800534/451736387.jpg 720w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/FPcuowp5KTkJkxrGWFjeyDUOuF0=/0x0:3000x2306/920x0/filters:focal(0x0:3000x2306):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22800534/451736387.jpg 920w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/G_yzgkbblDaCeFm3HoOjemaa1fM=/0x0:3000x2306/1120x0/filters:focal(0x0:3000x2306):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22800534/451736387.jpg 1120w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/6PXnHHXrztqtYFgA8c0rg6s6Obc=/0x0:3000x2306/1320x0/filters:focal(0x0:3000x2306):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22800534/451736387.jpg 1320w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/nWl6Yi8izewqLoC1RfdcfX8H5V4=/0x0:3000x2306/1520x0/filters:focal(0x0:3000x2306):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22800534/451736387.jpg 1520w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/mWdD2dcll92m-7jIXmdZivqBy5M=/0x0:3000x2306/1720x0/filters:focal(0x0:3000x2306):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22800534/451736387.jpg 1720w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/n__mca9JhGkU1GEFmVe2bm5cyTE=/0x0:3000x2306/1920x0/filters:focal(0x0:3000x2306):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22800534/451736387.jpg 1920w" sizes="(min-width: 1221px) 846px, (min-width: 880px) calc(100vw - 334px), 100vw" type="image/webp" /> <img alt="" data-upload-width="3000" sizes="(min-width: 1221px) 846px, (min-width: 880px) calc(100vw - 334px), 100vw" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/0ZfIV_nCdhXHa5gxJjasOyeES44=/0x0:3000x2306/1200x0/filters:focal(0x0:3000x2306):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22800534/451736387.jpg" srcset="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/X-wjgJ8FtPdGD0jFsvwf67BcQqo=/0x0:3000x2306/320x0/filters:focal(0x0:3000x2306):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22800534/451736387.jpg 320w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/elEmC82famMl8ANOjnRwDDoQerA=/0x0:3000x2306/520x0/filters:focal(0x0:3000x2306):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22800534/451736387.jpg 520w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/bsu4Ka49sfFbUkiiYWKjT5wnTtQ=/0x0:3000x2306/720x0/filters:focal(0x0:3000x2306):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22800534/451736387.jpg 720w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/daayi6-MQrAsI4_61ntfLwJC4JI=/0x0:3000x2306/920x0/filters:focal(0x0:3000x2306):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22800534/451736387.jpg 920w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/BYZpNvzNHfH2UzpZN9hzRj4Ewsk=/0x0:3000x2306/1120x0/filters:focal(0x0:3000x2306):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22800534/451736387.jpg 1120w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/wSNVt-ubY6MLZuR0ENVEiV3nB8E=/0x0:3000x2306/1320x0/filters:focal(0x0:3000x2306):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22800534/451736387.jpg 1320w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/3LJviyB-FhYdc5zEGXWW7Kch16A=/0x0:3000x2306/1520x0/filters:focal(0x0:3000x2306):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22800534/451736387.jpg 1520w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/uAFFwMdA4fCtmRiSvOhZLzny6j4=/0x0:3000x2306/1720x0/filters:focal(0x0:3000x2306):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22800534/451736387.jpg 1720w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/ydb_B2mxRuX7Qb_ANawbqLSfEmM=/0x0:3000x2306/1920x0/filters:focal(0x0:3000x2306):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22800534/451736387.jpg 1920w" /></picture></span></span> <figcaption><span class="e-image__meta">Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez at the premiere of <em>Daredevil</em>, in 2004.</span></figcaption> <span class="e-image__meta"><cite>Chris Weeks/WireImage</cite></span></figure> <p>The rising tabloid industry created the infrastructure for the Bennifer press phenomenon. But there was something specific about Affleck and Lopez as public figures, something about the way the public thought about them, that seemed to make the public react with unusual vitriol and contempt at their union. It had something to do with the way they were both movie stars, but different kinds of movie stars.</p> <p>Affleck circa 2002 was considered a Serious Actor. He’d co-written <em>Good Will Hunting</em>. He did <em>Armageddon</em>. He did <em>Shakespeare in Love</em>! He’d just been named People’s Sexiest Man Alive, and now — the narrative went — he was ready to take over Hollywood.</p> <p>Lopez, meanwhile, was considered a Glamorous Diva. While she’d proved her acting bona fides with <em>Selena</em> in 1997, the public tended to overlook her chops as a thespian <a href="https://www.vox.com/culture/2019/9/29/20884151/jennifer-lopez-hustlers-body">to focus on the spectacle of her body</a>: Lopez’s body in the Versace gown she wore to the 2000 Grammys, so searched-for that <a href="https://www.gq.com/story/jennifer-lopez-versace-google-images">it helped invent Google Images</a>; Lopez’s body dancing on the beach in the video for “<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4kGvlESGvbs">Love Don’t Cost a Thing</a>.”</p> <p>The public understanding of each persona conflicted violently. Ben Affleck was someone you were supposed to take seriously, someone whose work you were supposed to engage with sincerely, as highbrow art. Jennifer Lopez was someone you were supposed to love only ironically, as lowbrow kitsch. How could you make sense of the pair of them together?</p> <p><a href="https://archive.vanityfair.com/article/2003/3/bens-open-road">A 2003 Vanity Fair profile of Ben Affleck</a> lauds Affleck for his low-maintenance <em>stars, they’re just like us</em> cool: his unglamorous home, his “unfailing good humor.” But it looks askance at his union with Lopez — who, the article whispers, is “ravenously ambitious.” She has already been married twice, Vanity Fair notes, and sometimes appears to be nude in her perfume ads.</p> <p>“Although [Lopez] is a canny manipulator of her public image,” it goes on to warn us, “sordid tidbits about her past keep slithering out from under discarded rocks like nasty little snakes.” It’s referring to an interview Lopez’s first husband Ojani Noa had just given in the tabloids, where he referred to her as cold-hearted.</p> <p>In Vanity Fair, when Affleck is “starry-eyed” and “rhapsodizing” about Lopez, it’s not a good look for him. It’s a sign that a once-respectable movie star has been ensnared by a vicious snake of a woman, and that he is now under her spell, emasculated and laughable.</p> <p>That narrative, by and large, was the one the press embraced for Bennifer: Lopez as a social-climbing man-eater, and Affleck as her oblivious pawn. One of the biggest pieces of “evidence” for the story was Affleck’s new look, widely understood to be Lopez-mandated: his enhanced tan, his close shave, his slicked-back hair. In 2004, <a href="https://www.seattlepi.com/ae/article/People-in-the-News-J-Lo-wants-the-Ben-butt-kiss-1156117.php">Seattle PI called</a> the makeover “emasculating,” decrying the entire relationship as a “tacky public spectacle.”</p> <p>In the same Vanity Fair profile, Affleck proffers a counternarrative: What if, he posits, the reason the American public is being so weird about his relationship is good old-fashioned racism and sexism?</p> <p>“I think it has to do with race and class, the fact that I’m white and she’s Puerto Rican. That’s what’s underneath, although nobody says it, because it’s not politically correct,” he says. “There’s a kind of language that’s used about her — the spicy Latina, the tempestuous diva. She’s characterized as oversexed. I mean, the woman’s had five boyfriends in her whole life!”</p> <p>Affleck’s counternarrative garnered little traction in 2003. But in 2021, it looks fairly convincing. The ways the public fetishized Lopez’s body while refusing to respect the labor she performed with it, the way people considered her work and persona trashy while Affleck’s was considered highbrow — it’s all inflected by race, class, and gender.</p> <p>Lopez’s professional ambitions became cold and threatening while Affleck’s were considered aspirational, because women aren’t supposed to be ambitious. Because white men are generally offered the benefit of the doubt, the good movies Affleck had made were signs that he had real talent, while the bad movies were considered blips. In contrast, Lopez’s good movies were, by 2003, considered odd curiosities in a career that had refocused itself around music and movies for women and brown people, and her whole body of work was hence not worthy of respect.</p> <p>The disparity is perhaps clearest in the differing understanding of their bodies. Lopez became oversexed (married twice already!) and someone who would surely “<a href="https://archive.vanityfair.com/article/2003/3/bens-open-road">eat Affleck alive</a>,” because Latina women are understood to have inherently sexualized bodies, to be predatory in their sexuality. Meanwhile, Affleck’s “Sexiest Man Alive” status was understood to be a mark in his favor, a sign of his leading man chops — up until the makeover.</p> <p>The makeover was understood to be Affleck bowing to Lopez’s will. All the grit of his leading man handsomeness had been polished away, and with this new look, he became pretty, feminized, womanly. Feminine bodies are not considered worthy of respect, so Affleck lost all of his.</p> <p>Later, Affleck would say that appearing in that “Jenny From the Block” video <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110409111235/http://www.entertainmentwise.com/news/42440/ben-affleck-jenny-from-the">ruined his career</a>. (But for the record, he would note, it wasn’t Lopez’s fault.)</p> <p>With Bennifer 2.0, things have changed.</p> <figure class="e-image"><span class="e-image__inner"><span class="e-image__image" data-original="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22800539/Bennifer.jpeg"><picture class="c-picture" data-cid="site/picture_element-1629838488_2524_72206" data-cdata='{"asset_id":22800539,"ratio":"*"}'><source srcset="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/sJTf_dtMqz5Bwe94_jepNrZp_70=/0x0:1080x1349/320x0/filters:focal(0x0:1080x1349):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22800539/Bennifer.jpeg 320w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/L9WolUNrW9E-7padurrx2Wr6-hc=/0x0:1080x1349/520x0/filters:focal(0x0:1080x1349):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22800539/Bennifer.jpeg 520w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/ZOeRdXOtPkyROc7QXffoEm1U93M=/0x0:1080x1349/720x0/filters:focal(0x0:1080x1349):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22800539/Bennifer.jpeg 720w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/z54TgNVeHXNFAc_xNf5YKD9nHYQ=/0x0:1080x1349/920x0/filters:focal(0x0:1080x1349):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22800539/Bennifer.jpeg 920w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/6nWu4lpViJOuv-af5D2VbAn4wwY=/0x0:1080x1349/1120x0/filters:focal(0x0:1080x1349):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22800539/Bennifer.jpeg 1120w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/NcA4c8F1M5PG9B-EAw-xYNELuRs=/0x0:1080x1349/1320x0/filters:focal(0x0:1080x1349):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22800539/Bennifer.jpeg 1320w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/uy7F99Ly31AOP-4M436LYmDrIeg=/0x0:1080x1349/1520x0/filters:focal(0x0:1080x1349):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22800539/Bennifer.jpeg 1520w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/CBzu7rwvVjErcOGDbAcUdIjMPgA=/0x0:1080x1349/1720x0/filters:focal(0x0:1080x1349):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22800539/Bennifer.jpeg 1720w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/9NQpH2XTNEeamntwl3vep7A-Sgw=/0x0:1080x1349/1920x0/filters:focal(0x0:1080x1349):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22800539/Bennifer.jpeg 1920w" sizes="(min-width: 1221px) 846px, (min-width: 880px) calc(100vw - 334px), 100vw" type="image/webp" /> <img alt="Lopez and Affleck share a kiss on a yacht." data-upload-width="1080" sizes="(min-width: 1221px) 846px, (min-width: 880px) calc(100vw - 334px), 100vw" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/cge8NGuP8UeGLhECaLr4XdPhfv8=/0x0:1080x1349/1200x0/filters:focal(0x0:1080x1349):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22800539/Bennifer.jpeg" srcset="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/cfGJ_xGP6iSSStq3q9ILfXE-w8k=/0x0:1080x1349/320x0/filters:focal(0x0:1080x1349):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22800539/Bennifer.jpeg 320w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/hRd7gKIbE_SbsBUrbeXmkJ8PKiw=/0x0:1080x1349/520x0/filters:focal(0x0:1080x1349):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22800539/Bennifer.jpeg 520w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/LthzkyBzqLnJ1R8PJMmbM_xQ32g=/0x0:1080x1349/720x0/filters:focal(0x0:1080x1349):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22800539/Bennifer.jpeg 720w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/bj7D3e90lD1XvCK7kqyWUoCfZkY=/0x0:1080x1349/920x0/filters:focal(0x0:1080x1349):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22800539/Bennifer.jpeg 920w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/Jw4HeCGWNNmK_1BYB4NLCGlanfM=/0x0:1080x1349/1120x0/filters:focal(0x0:1080x1349):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22800539/Bennifer.jpeg 1120w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/NtQ8aBPraxl9tGz-FosMqfNAlm0=/0x0:1080x1349/1320x0/filters:focal(0x0:1080x1349):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22800539/Bennifer.jpeg 1320w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/5fTPT09XzILsfHZ-cU22sE1otno=/0x0:1080x1349/1520x0/filters:focal(0x0:1080x1349):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22800539/Bennifer.jpeg 1520w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/XOsU2welNVFkHkwaKnWxl-ffpKU=/0x0:1080x1349/1720x0/filters:focal(0x0:1080x1349):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22800539/Bennifer.jpeg 1720w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/aw2wLuZ1mxMOwZSD_rPINYJjGNU=/0x0:1080x1349/1920x0/filters:focal(0x0:1080x1349):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22800539/Bennifer.jpeg 1920w" /></picture></span></span> <figcaption><span class="e-image__meta">Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck made their relationship social media official when Lopez posted this photo to her Instagram.</span></figcaption> <span class="e-image__meta"><cite>Jennifer Lopez/<a class="ql-link" href="https://www.instagram.com/p/CRuRLW1p1Co/?utm_source=ig_embed&ig_rid=bebf7fd5-16e3-44f6-86b9-cbd982ac62de" target="_blank">Instagram</a></cite></span></figure> <p>“Breaking breaking breaking breaking fucking news,” <a href="https://twitter.com/todoxjlaw/status/1392955042378960897">announced Jennifer Lawrence</a>, mid-podcast interview, earlier this spring. “Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez are BACK TOGETHER!” As one, the host and Lawrence’s fellow guests screamed in delight.</p> <p>Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez reunited in the spring of 2021. Since 2004, they’d both been married, had children, and gotten divorced, and when Lopez dissolved her engagement with former Yankees player Alex Rodriguez at the beginning of the year, both she and Affleck were single at the same time.</p> <p>According to the gossip press, <a href="https://www.laineygossip.com/timeline-for-jennifer-lopez-and-ben-affleck-redux-now-that-we-know-bennifer-2021-is-reality/68606">Affleck began wooing Lopez by email in February</a>. They were first photographed publicly together on April 30, and in July, <a href="https://www.laineygossip.com/jennifer-lopez-makes-it-instagram-official-with-ben-affleck-for-her-birthday/69062">they made it Instagram official</a>. They are now reportedly shopping for houses together.</p> <p>Strikingly, Bennifer 2.0 is repeating a lot of the same iconography Bennifer 1.0 used — but the public reception this time around is very different than it was in 2003. The public is <em>loving</em> this.</p> <p>“They lost their love once, and so did we, and now that it’s been miraculously reborn, let’s appreciate this in a way we didn’t the first time!” <a href="https://www.laineygossip.com/jennifer-lopez-and-ben-affleck-frolic-on-a-yacht-in-st-tropez-inviting-us-to-participate-in-bennifer-summer/69063">wrote Lui at Lainey Gossip</a>. “Look at what JLo is giving us. We should be grateful!”</p> <p>Affleck is now getting photographed out and about wearing the watch Lopez gave him in the “Jenny From the Block” video. He gave her a framed print of a picture of the pair of them riding a motorcycle together from that 2003 Vanity Fair profile. He was even photographed rubbing sunscreen into her ass on a yacht, in what tabloids immediately dubbed a reprise of the famous butt kiss from “Jenny From the Block.” The parallels are striking enough that comedian Caissie St. Onge <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/CRu27aLJvTF/?utm_source=ig_embed&ig_rid=5eaad787-f875-4de1-bd21-4ff568e39b83">has begun to theorize</a> that Bennifer is making a shot-for-shot “Jenny From the Block” remake.</p> <p>Affleck even appears to have gone through another Lopez-appropriate glow-up — <a href="https://twitter.com/tomandlorenzo/status/1419035230850191367?lang=en">as fashion bloggers Tom and Lorenzo noted on Twitter</a>, “Ben Affleck got himself in better shape for J Lo again than he did to play Batman.” The New York Times published a winky little article on the “<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/08/05/style/j-lo-effect.html">J. Lo effect</a>,” noting “Ms. Lopez’s appearance-boosting effect on the men she dates.”</p> <p>This time around, the makeover is being greeted not with hostility so much as it is amused and understanding respect. Well, <em>of course</em> Ben Affleck hit the gym before he shot his shot with J. Lo, is the implication. Someone of her status deserves no less.</p> <p>It is Affleck and Lopez’s respective statuses that have shifted the most since 2003 and that seem to account for some of the change in the public’s reception of Bennifer 2.0. In 2021, J. Lo’s Glamorous Diva image has become aspirational, while Affleck’s Serious Actor image has taken on a tinge of sadsackery.</p> <p>Nearly 20 years after <em>Gigli</em>, time has vindicated Lopez’s career. She is still relevant, still considered top-tier talent, in a way few of her peers are. In our rise-and-grind era, her palpable ambition has come to read as an admirable commitment to the hustle. Her <a href="https://www.vox.com/culture/2019/9/29/20884151/jennifer-lopez-hustlers-body">much-buzzed-over performance in 2018’s <em>Hustlers</em></a> reestablished her credibility as both a serious actress and a serious dancer, and <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/08/05/style/j-lo-effect.html">her age-defying beauty</a> is continually memed across social media.</p> <p>When people said Jennifer Lopez was a diva in 2003, they meant that she was probably bitchy, probably high-maintenance, and probably slutty. When people say Jennifer Lopez is a diva in 2021, they mean that she’s an icon, a goddess.</p> <p>Affleck, meanwhile, has suffered in the public eye. Post-<em>Gigli</em>, his well-received work as a director helped get his acting career back on track, but his turn as Batman in <a href="https://www.vox.com/2016/3/23/11291550/batman-v-superman-dawn-of-justice-review">the much-reviled Justice League franchise</a> put that credibility in serious jeopardy. Simultaneously, in the wake of his 2015 divorce from Jennifer Garner (the <em>other</em> Ben and Jen) and <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/culture/annals-of-appearances/the-great-sadness-of-ben-affleck">a really bad tattoo</a>, he developed an image as someone slightly pathetic, like a pratfalling sitcom character. Like Lopez, <a href="https://www.vox.com/culture/22238820/sad-ben-affleck-ana-de-armas-cardboard-cutout">Affleck gets memed a lot these days</a> — but while Lopez gets memed for looking ageless, Affleck usually gets memed for something like dropping his Dunkin’, vaping in his car with an air of existential despair, or having to throw out a life-size cardboard cutout of his ex-girlfriend.</p> <p>So as Bennifer make their triumphant return, they’re no longer faced with a narrative in which cold, man-eating Lopez is emasculating and humiliating serious, respectable Affleck. Instead, the narrative this time around is that of a former golden boy on the skids, turning himself around to land the untouchable goddess who once loved him. The celebrity romance that once appeared obnoxious and in need of being dragged down a peg or 10 now seems to be, endearingly, the tale of an underdog working hard to get the girl; the tale of a woman who worked her ass off to get to the top and is now marvelously condescending to bring her ex up with her.</p> <p>It’s a turn that Lopez, in a way, anticipated. “I think different time, different thing, who knows what could’ve happened,” <a href="https://people.com/celebrity/jennifer-lopez-says-there-was-genuine-love-with-ben-affleck/?xid=Popsugar">she told People in 2016</a>, “but there was a genuine love there.”</p> <p>In a different time, Bennifer <em>is</em> a different thing. But the change doesn’t seem to have much to do with either Lopez or Affleck’s individual actions: After all, they’re repeating everything they did the first time around. Their public actions and comments have stayed remarkably consistent through all this time — it’s the way we read them that has shifted dramatically.</p> <p>So in the end, Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez aren’t the ones who’ve changed. We are.</p> <br /> <br /> source <a href="https://www.vox.com/culture/22629442/bennifer-jennifer-lopez-ben-affleck-reunion-explained">https://www.vox.com/culture/22629442/bennifer-jennifer-lopez-ben-affleck-reunion-explained</a>

vox The Jennifer Lopez-Ben Affleck recoupling is the greatest gossip story we’ve had in years

If there is a shining bright spot in the world right now, it’s the reunion of Bennifer, the greatest celebrity gossip story the world has ex...

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Women’s rights have an uncertain future in Afghanistan

<p>Afghanistan, after the <a href="https://www.vox.com/22626240/taliban-afganistan-baradar">Taliban takeover</a>, is a waiting game. And for Afghan women, the waiting game is agonizing.</p> <p>The last time the Taliban held power, in the late ’90s and early 2000s, repression was a feature of their rule. This was especially true for women. Girls could not attend school; women could not hold jobs or leave their homes without a male relative accompanying them. Those who defied the Taliban’s directives and their fundamentalist interpretation of Islam were punished, often brutally, <a href="https://theconversation.com/as-the-taliban-returns-20-years-of-progress-for-women-looks-set-to-disappear-overnight-165012">with floggings or beatings</a>.</p> <p>The US invasion of Afghanistan after the 9/11 attacks put the Taliban’s worldview under scrutiny. The war became about more than terrorism; things like the expansion of women’s rights became embedded within the US mission there. In November 2001, first lady Laura Bush <a href="https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2001-nov-18-mn-5602-story.html">said</a> the Taliban’s retreat meant “the people of Afghanistan, especially women, are rejoicing.” In 2010, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton <a href="https://foreignpolicy.com/2010/05/14/clinton-to-afghan-women-we-will-not-abandon-you/">told</a> a group of female Afghan ministers: “We will not abandon you, we will stand with you always.”</p> <figure class="e-image"><span class="e-image__inner"><span class="e-image__image" data-original="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22795771/GettyImages_1234775282.jpg"><picture class="c-picture" data-cid="site/picture_element-1629840365_6591_7424" data-cdata='{"asset_id":22795771,"ratio":"*"}'><source srcset="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/CPvRIuQhkIQju4lHRrudk0PYOfc=/0x0:3000x2000/320x0/filters:focal(0x0:3000x2000):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22795771/GettyImages_1234775282.jpg 320w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/uSwNCtVTffXbfTrm-X6W2Z1uVvg=/0x0:3000x2000/520x0/filters:focal(0x0:3000x2000):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22795771/GettyImages_1234775282.jpg 520w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/AHvCZ7f24743QerbvGiGPtaPGIY=/0x0:3000x2000/720x0/filters:focal(0x0:3000x2000):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22795771/GettyImages_1234775282.jpg 720w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/01ausvUcg7iUKl7LcZpe-JDnMKI=/0x0:3000x2000/920x0/filters:focal(0x0:3000x2000):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22795771/GettyImages_1234775282.jpg 920w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/uvZCyGZ2WeyWOq_EFliclRiS474=/0x0:3000x2000/1120x0/filters:focal(0x0:3000x2000):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22795771/GettyImages_1234775282.jpg 1120w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/cx7iKkeJmmai0sLCKt4re6OuWoI=/0x0:3000x2000/1320x0/filters:focal(0x0:3000x2000):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22795771/GettyImages_1234775282.jpg 1320w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/vBVqNU5lAXctSWvLr5YlHbUGXzU=/0x0:3000x2000/1520x0/filters:focal(0x0:3000x2000):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22795771/GettyImages_1234775282.jpg 1520w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/tf0Cxq83CbiANIcpDBWH0dNCGwA=/0x0:3000x2000/1720x0/filters:focal(0x0:3000x2000):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22795771/GettyImages_1234775282.jpg 1720w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/KlKWITA6v0qabbPyvMXGBdGep0A=/0x0:3000x2000/1920x0/filters:focal(0x0:3000x2000):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22795771/GettyImages_1234775282.jpg 1920w" sizes="(min-width: 1221px) 846px, (min-width: 880px) calc(100vw - 334px), 100vw" type="image/webp" /> <img alt="Soldiers surround a weeping woman sitting on the ground." data-upload-width="3000" sizes="(min-width: 1221px) 846px, (min-width: 880px) calc(100vw - 334px), 100vw" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/P3qu2h6UCrWl7soDDSL6pY8fe-8=/0x0:3000x2000/1200x0/filters:focal(0x0:3000x2000):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22795771/GettyImages_1234775282.jpg" srcset="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/hWjyQwhOoijvoKrOiyByWEYxu3M=/0x0:3000x2000/320x0/filters:focal(0x0:3000x2000):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22795771/GettyImages_1234775282.jpg 320w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/5uQETomofQ42ubqEmH89FfR0UxU=/0x0:3000x2000/520x0/filters:focal(0x0:3000x2000):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22795771/GettyImages_1234775282.jpg 520w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/ccgioJJja2lsQSbdUBE3sSJ_Lk0=/0x0:3000x2000/720x0/filters:focal(0x0:3000x2000):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22795771/GettyImages_1234775282.jpg 720w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/0ZElYy04oBFUoZjXG31iTfDv_g8=/0x0:3000x2000/920x0/filters:focal(0x0:3000x2000):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22795771/GettyImages_1234775282.jpg 920w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/cAR9JY94ytglH8lc64vhu-b2ZNM=/0x0:3000x2000/1120x0/filters:focal(0x0:3000x2000):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22795771/GettyImages_1234775282.jpg 1120w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/4Pja7GL5GPVYGwFI8NzQwUX3Pco=/0x0:3000x2000/1320x0/filters:focal(0x0:3000x2000):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22795771/GettyImages_1234775282.jpg 1320w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/L_Dcmb5WdQVnHVcRqgdikAblACo=/0x0:3000x2000/1520x0/filters:focal(0x0:3000x2000):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22795771/GettyImages_1234775282.jpg 1520w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/EQw3kMX_DE3iagRvyLqBTsBhGaA=/0x0:3000x2000/1720x0/filters:focal(0x0:3000x2000):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22795771/GettyImages_1234775282.jpg 1720w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/UsIayuwz2n4OY0eTiLk0YOUQ1WE=/0x0:3000x2000/1920x0/filters:focal(0x0:3000x2000):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22795771/GettyImages_1234775282.jpg 1920w" /></picture></span></span> <figcaption><span class="e-image__meta">Turkish soldiers calm down a woman after she lost her passport while waiting for evacuation at Kabul’s airport on August 18.</span></figcaption> <span class="e-image__meta"><cite>Aykut Karadag/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images</cite></span></figure> <p>Twenty years later, the United States is departing, and as it executed those plans, those earlier justifications fell away. President Joe Biden has said, in the military <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/speeches-remarks/2021/07/08/remarks-by-president-biden-on-the-drawdown-of-u-s-forces-in-afghanistan/">drawdown</a>, that the US objective in Afghanistan was to defeat terrorism there. <a href="https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/full-transcript-abc-news-george-stephanopoulos-interview-president/story?id=79535643">He said last week</a>, “the idea that we’re able to deal with the rights of women around the world by military force is not rational.”</p> <p>That sentiment comes 20 years late, after the mess of two decades of conflict and the still-unfolding fallout of the US’s military intervention. All of it leaves Afghan women facing a precarious future, once again, under Taliban rule — and a question of what role, if any, the US has in that future.</p> <p>The uncertainty facing Afghan women comes after 20 years of US intervention — which itself <a href="https://www.vox.com/world/22634008/us-troops-afghanistan-cold-war-bush-bin-laden">followed decades of foreign intervention by the Soviet Union and others</a> — where women’s rights were packaged <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/23524156">as another justification for the war in Afghanistan</a>. The gains were real, if <a href="https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2021/08/how-the-us-abandoned-women-in-afghanistan">uneven and often tenuous</a>, undermined by the insecurity that the decades-long conflict brought.</p> <p>The struggle for gender equality didn’t start with the US arrival in 2001: Women in Afghanistan <a href="https://origins.osu.edu/article/long-long-struggle-women-s-rights-afghanistan">fought for their rights</a> long before the Taliban arrived in the 1990s, and some Afghan women’s activists <a href="https://www.thenation.com/article/world/white-feminists-wanted-to-invade/">opposed the US intervention</a>.</p> <p>But women’s rights got inserted into the rallying cry for war regardless of whether Afghan women wanted them, and at times, they <a href="https://go.redirectingat.com/?id=66960X1516588&xs=1&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.oxfam.org%2Fen%2Fpress-releases%2Fglobal-celebrities-wear-green-scarves-solidarity-afghan-women&referrer=vox.com&sref=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.vox.com%2F22630912%2Fwomen-afghanistan-taliban-united-states-war" rel="sponsored nofollow noopener" target="_blank" has-subtag="true" data-cdata='{"rewritten_url":"https://go.redirectingat.com?id=66960X1516588\u0026xs=1\u0026url=https://www.oxfam.org/en/press-releases/global-celebrities-wear-green-scarves-solidarity-afghan-women\u0026referrer=vox.com\u0026sref=https://www.vox.com/22630912/women-afghanistan-taliban-united-states-war\u0026xcust=___vx__p_22394953__m_m-placeholder__s_s-placeholder__t_w__c_c-placeholder__r_r-placeholder__d_d-placeholder","subtag_max_length":50,"subtag_delim_length":3,"subtag_key":"xcust","subtag_data":{"id":"66960X1516588","xs":"1","url":"https://www.oxfam.org/en/press-releases/global-celebrities-wear-green-scarves-solidarity-afghan-women","referrer":"vox.com","sref":"https://www.vox.com/22630912/women-afghanistan-taliban-united-states-war","xcust":"___vx__p_22394953__m_m-placeholder__s_s-placeholder__t_w__c_c-placeholder__r_r-placeholder__d_d-placeholder"},"encode_subtag":false}'>became a cause célèbre</a>. “The fight against terrorism is also a fight for the rights and dignity of women,” Laura Bush <a href="https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2001-nov-18-mn-5602-story.html">said in November 2001</a>, a few weeks after the US invaded Afghanistan following the 9/11 attacks.</p> <p>“The central goal of the terrorists is the brutal oppression of women — and not only the women of Afghanistan,” <a href="https://2001-2009.state.gov/p/sca/rls/rm/6816.htm">President George W. Bush</a> said in December 2001, around the signing of legislation for Afghan women and children. “The terrorists who help rule Afghanistan are found in dozens and dozens of countries around the world. And that is the reason this great nation, with our friends and allies, will not rest until we bring them all to justice.”</p> <p>Saving Afghan women from the Taliban also helped make the case for continued US war, said <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10624-012-9279-5#Fn2">Saadia Toor</a>, a sociology professor at the CUNY College of Staten Island. Even among lawmakers who generally support the withdrawal, hints of that rhetoric continue today.</p> <div> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"> <p lang="en" dir="ltr" xml:lang="en">The President is to be commended for the clarity of purpose of his statement on Afghanistan and his action. The Taliban must know the world is watching its actions. We are concerned about reports regarding the Taliban’s brutal treatment of all Afghans, especially women and girls.</p> — Nancy Pelosi (@SpeakerPelosi) <a href="https://twitter.com/SpeakerPelosi/status/1426937799446564870?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 15, 2021</a></blockquote> </div> <p>The US intervention brought attention and it brought development money, much of it well-meaning but not always suited to success. Afghan women did enter public life in a way that was impossible during the Taliban’s rule. “The most drastic shift with respect to women’s rights came formally, legally, constitutionally, and how they manifest within the formal sectors,” said <a href="https://harris.uchicago.edu/directory/maliha-chishti">Maliha Chishti</a>, former director of the United Nations’ Hague Appeal for Peace and professor at the University of Chicago. Women’s rights were enshrined in Afghanistan’s <a href="https://www.brookings.edu/essay/the-fate-of-womens-rights-in-afghanistan/">2004 constitution</a>; <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/pictures/the-women-of-afghanistans-parliament/">women held a certain percentage of seats in Parliament</a> and entered sectors like law, government, and media.</p> <p>International aid — severely limited during the Taliban’s rule — improved some social, <a href="https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/2021/8/19/22631070/taliban-afghanistan-public-health-mortality-deaths">economic, and health outcomes for women</a>. Girls and women had access to education, though the instability and Taliban resurgence in recent years has threatened that. In 2020, of 9.5 million students, just shy of 40 percent were girls, <a href="https://www.usaid.gov/afghanistan/education">according to USAID</a>.</p> <p>Still, when it came to women’s rights, they were most tangible in cities like Kabul, which, Chishti pointed out, were also the centers of international funding and foreign militaries that could protect those efforts. Meanwhile, grassroots efforts led by Afghan women sometimes conflicted with what Toor called “NGO-ized feminism” — think conferences on women’s empowerment and other kinds of Western-values activism that wasn’t sustainable and didn’t necessarily fit with Afghanistan.</p> <p>Mariam Wardak, an advocate and former senior Afghan government official, pointed out that for traditional, religious, and cultural reasons, in many parts of Afghanistan “there is a resistance for women to speak out, for women to hold a certain structure in our society.”</p> <p>And as the war ground on, the US commitment to women’s rights sometimes visibly waned. Amie Ferris-Rotman, who reported for Reuters from Afghanistan for two years and founded an organization to mentor and train Afghan women journalists, <a href="https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2021/08/how-the-us-abandoned-women-in-afghanistan">noted for Vanity Fair</a> that “there have long been signs of betrayal” of America’s stated commitment to women’s rights:</p> <blockquote> <p>There was the time a senior American official <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/in-afghanistan-us-shifts-strategy-on-womens-rights-as-it-eyes-wider-priorities/2011/03/02/ABkxMAO_story.html">described</a> issues of gender as “pet rocks in our rucksack taking us down.” Then there was the method deployed by the CIA of exchanging <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna28389048">Viagra</a> pills for intel on Taliban whereabouts, so that, in the words of an Afghan journalist friend, “old men can rape their wives with America’s blessing.” Let’s not forget the polemic two years ago by academic Cheryl Benard, wife of the Afghan-born American Taliban negotiator, Zalmay Khalilzad, <a href="https://nationalinterest.org/feature/afghan-women-are-charge-their-own-fate-45777">chastising</a> Afghan women for not fighting for their rights, which they are not owed “by someone else’s army or taxpayer dollars.” And when Joe Biden was asked last year by <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/full-transcript-of-face-the-nation-on-february-23-2020/">CBS</a> if he bears “some responsibility” should Afghan women lose their rights under a Taliban takeover, the U.S. president responded to the reporter, Margaret Brennan, with “No, I don’t!”</p> </blockquote> <figure class="e-image"><span class="e-image__inner"><span class="e-image__image" data-original="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22795772/GettyImages_1233243381.jpg"><picture class="c-picture" data-cid="site/picture_element-1629840365_840_7425" data-cdata='{"asset_id":22795772,"ratio":"*"}'><source srcset="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/JfgOjaRaq72bxPv0VINtVqZQ_NM=/0x0:3000x2000/320x0/filters:focal(0x0:3000x2000):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22795772/GettyImages_1233243381.jpg 320w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/pyR4TgOjnDqed6-CCmuL7rLO8h0=/0x0:3000x2000/520x0/filters:focal(0x0:3000x2000):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22795772/GettyImages_1233243381.jpg 520w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/xiYhTJh5M9kInW6iN0rTFQg-_oM=/0x0:3000x2000/720x0/filters:focal(0x0:3000x2000):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22795772/GettyImages_1233243381.jpg 720w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/PuR_jWxFsPY0I3SHpxNIpXRdQpE=/0x0:3000x2000/920x0/filters:focal(0x0:3000x2000):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22795772/GettyImages_1233243381.jpg 920w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/IDmCA_PVTrwZLCsNqZQTXAVoiH0=/0x0:3000x2000/1120x0/filters:focal(0x0:3000x2000):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22795772/GettyImages_1233243381.jpg 1120w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/ThehQxKO_Iru7VovS2d2FejjhxM=/0x0:3000x2000/1320x0/filters:focal(0x0:3000x2000):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22795772/GettyImages_1233243381.jpg 1320w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/pFX9utTIBY_fhbEfVVxLnvDoFCY=/0x0:3000x2000/1520x0/filters:focal(0x0:3000x2000):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22795772/GettyImages_1233243381.jpg 1520w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/2__Fs0aLNMwUQVxEpoVkN5z2KCk=/0x0:3000x2000/1720x0/filters:focal(0x0:3000x2000):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22795772/GettyImages_1233243381.jpg 1720w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/vRxanzwrZyKIhpBrgOIc84diksE=/0x0:3000x2000/1920x0/filters:focal(0x0:3000x2000):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22795772/GettyImages_1233243381.jpg 1920w" sizes="(min-width: 1221px) 846px, (min-width: 880px) calc(100vw - 334px), 100vw" type="image/webp" /> <img alt="" data-upload-width="3000" sizes="(min-width: 1221px) 846px, (min-width: 880px) calc(100vw - 334px), 100vw" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/3s3ecRFmwqxjqSTl2p2Lhag7PsA=/0x0:3000x2000/1200x0/filters:focal(0x0:3000x2000):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22795772/GettyImages_1233243381.jpg" srcset="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/aKkIwB8weWrdbRsrx7FvVV96mFw=/0x0:3000x2000/320x0/filters:focal(0x0:3000x2000):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22795772/GettyImages_1233243381.jpg 320w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/dikbd0dDrGfoVE5z5-yliwmkD3c=/0x0:3000x2000/520x0/filters:focal(0x0:3000x2000):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22795772/GettyImages_1233243381.jpg 520w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/JPkB-wAjaZ0MPBSiqxdTJZK23Fs=/0x0:3000x2000/720x0/filters:focal(0x0:3000x2000):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22795772/GettyImages_1233243381.jpg 720w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/TPVFsidyBTDG9T-D5g_Be_U_nk4=/0x0:3000x2000/920x0/filters:focal(0x0:3000x2000):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22795772/GettyImages_1233243381.jpg 920w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/Qa4Gi_LOW43h4HNujPcE9gzYnYE=/0x0:3000x2000/1120x0/filters:focal(0x0:3000x2000):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22795772/GettyImages_1233243381.jpg 1120w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/b_z7845TfesWtELP4eCKKbLuhL8=/0x0:3000x2000/1320x0/filters:focal(0x0:3000x2000):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22795772/GettyImages_1233243381.jpg 1320w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/vSRaMtgUO3AcXSVk1SecDpZauF0=/0x0:3000x2000/1520x0/filters:focal(0x0:3000x2000):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22795772/GettyImages_1233243381.jpg 1520w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/auwbQL1NN6KU-z6B2zkl5nNTCoY=/0x0:3000x2000/1720x0/filters:focal(0x0:3000x2000):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22795772/GettyImages_1233243381.jpg 1720w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/nIpHp1EcqI4T-ZUW2HZyfpMNykA=/0x0:3000x2000/1920x0/filters:focal(0x0:3000x2000):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22795772/GettyImages_1233243381.jpg 1920w" /></picture></span></span> <figcaption><span class="e-image__meta">Women work at a cake factory in an industrial park in Herat province, Afghanistan, on June 1.</span></figcaption> <span class="e-image__meta"><cite>Arif Karimi/Xinhua via Getty Images</cite></span></figure> <figure class="e-image"><span class="e-image__inner"><span class="e-image__image" data-original="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22795773/GettyImages_1232002648.jpg"><picture class="c-picture" data-cid="site/picture_element-1629840365_5527_7426" data-cdata='{"asset_id":22795773,"ratio":"*"}'><source srcset="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/gi1Uxo1-6J-vCg4ttc0L6LEfapg=/0x0:3000x1951/320x0/filters:focal(0x0:3000x1951):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22795773/GettyImages_1232002648.jpg 320w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/A0NC73BgM9aipDaZxwi9mWYFeE0=/0x0:3000x1951/520x0/filters:focal(0x0:3000x1951):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22795773/GettyImages_1232002648.jpg 520w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/oRa9G4QPWDamoXclk5C1L4OY0sg=/0x0:3000x1951/720x0/filters:focal(0x0:3000x1951):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22795773/GettyImages_1232002648.jpg 720w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/TOmGq69X58uzBVXma-6IDqrUXkw=/0x0:3000x1951/920x0/filters:focal(0x0:3000x1951):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22795773/GettyImages_1232002648.jpg 920w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/CQfvK6H7UJva5uZ3E9baRDh34ks=/0x0:3000x1951/1120x0/filters:focal(0x0:3000x1951):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22795773/GettyImages_1232002648.jpg 1120w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/WtoPszBsqn8B_SYAeTyRfCPbF8A=/0x0:3000x1951/1320x0/filters:focal(0x0:3000x1951):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22795773/GettyImages_1232002648.jpg 1320w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/5Efpx8JsXHF1_OBXMul_sZyEtmI=/0x0:3000x1951/1520x0/filters:focal(0x0:3000x1951):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22795773/GettyImages_1232002648.jpg 1520w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/eD4uoMh5lRFnIYi-VTpyN4hbu5A=/0x0:3000x1951/1720x0/filters:focal(0x0:3000x1951):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22795773/GettyImages_1232002648.jpg 1720w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/LE4kOk_momPePsP6OPtW-bRW7PI=/0x0:3000x1951/1920x0/filters:focal(0x0:3000x1951):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22795773/GettyImages_1232002648.jpg 1920w" sizes="(min-width: 1221px) 846px, (min-width: 880px) calc(100vw - 334px), 100vw" type="image/webp" /> <img alt="" data-upload-width="3000" sizes="(min-width: 1221px) 846px, (min-width: 880px) calc(100vw - 334px), 100vw" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/juaSMF9-8z6hn_lwgCcO-oT1eDA=/0x0:3000x1951/1200x0/filters:focal(0x0:3000x1951):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22795773/GettyImages_1232002648.jpg" srcset="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/Ofnb__PxMVPoqwz1yUgmxAUV-wo=/0x0:3000x1951/320x0/filters:focal(0x0:3000x1951):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22795773/GettyImages_1232002648.jpg 320w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/Ge4oxI6dVcQJ4iFEV2QukuCb1EQ=/0x0:3000x1951/520x0/filters:focal(0x0:3000x1951):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22795773/GettyImages_1232002648.jpg 520w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/2CiS-vsTkAu9GtgXNIcyitaKf5w=/0x0:3000x1951/720x0/filters:focal(0x0:3000x1951):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22795773/GettyImages_1232002648.jpg 720w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/__lD3MG8xfo2Rf_N4rXMSzR4Ccs=/0x0:3000x1951/920x0/filters:focal(0x0:3000x1951):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22795773/GettyImages_1232002648.jpg 920w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/twdhFNnPhpsHC3-X-3SbGKIVFp8=/0x0:3000x1951/1120x0/filters:focal(0x0:3000x1951):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22795773/GettyImages_1232002648.jpg 1120w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/CvRJ0V9UjGhWVC8WC06FnXbvE5Q=/0x0:3000x1951/1320x0/filters:focal(0x0:3000x1951):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22795773/GettyImages_1232002648.jpg 1320w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/TpRIFkVLBTcZ-jGuxzQrb4-o4Ds=/0x0:3000x1951/1520x0/filters:focal(0x0:3000x1951):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22795773/GettyImages_1232002648.jpg 1520w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/P0NFIG-iIQMQUhy7874HIcHMXzo=/0x0:3000x1951/1720x0/filters:focal(0x0:3000x1951):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22795773/GettyImages_1232002648.jpg 1720w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/eVTV-BSUGaM0bK1fGB5cAenulrE=/0x0:3000x1951/1920x0/filters:focal(0x0:3000x1951):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22795773/GettyImages_1232002648.jpg 1920w" /></picture></span></span> <figcaption><span class="e-image__meta">Women, youths, activists, and elders gather at a rally to support peace talks and the republic government in Kabul on March 29.</span></figcaption> <span class="e-image__meta"><cite>Anadolu Agency via Getty Images</cite></span></figure> <p>Ultimately, one of the biggest challenges to women’s rights in Afghanistan was years of war. It’s hard to get girls to go to school when they’re <a href="https://watson.brown.edu/costsofwar/costs/human/civilians/afghan">displaced by airstrikes</a> <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/08/world/asia/bombing-school-afghanistan.html">or their schools are getting blown up</a>. The Taliban’s advance across the country in the past years meant women in positions of authority were often under threat of <a href="https://gandhara.rferl.org/a/taliban-accused-of-kidnapping-murdering-afghan-policewoman/30775560.html">kidnapping</a> and violence.</p> <p>Yet the full return of the Taliban deepens that threat, and threatens to stall or unravel the progress Afghan women have made. Zubaida Akbar, a 31-year-old Afghan activist who’s been in the United States for three years, said the lives of Afghan women have improved, even if that improvement has been slow.</p> <p>Zahra Nader, a journalist and PhD student from Afghanistan who’s based in Canada, said the US talked about “saving Afghan women from misogynist forces, this gender apartheid.”</p> <p>“That did not happen,” she said. “That did not happen at all.”</p> <p>Yes, she said, she went to school, she went to university in Kabul — an opportunity she recognizes that many other Afghan women did not have. But she and other Afghans were working to determine what came next for their country.</p> <p>“We were hoping that we’re going to build a society, we’re going to build a better future for Afghanistan, and we will be the ones that decide the future of the country,” she said. But she argued that US intervention, whatever the justifications, was always about US interests, and those are what prevailed: “What was going on in Afghanistan wasn’t really our choice.”</p> <p>And now the women in Afghanistan are left to deal with the consequences of that, collateral in a war outside their control. “The international community has failed us,” Akbar said, “and they have made it clear that our lives don’t matter.”</p> <p>The Taliban have <a href="https://www.vox.com/22626240/taliban-afganistan-baradar">sought to rebrand themselves</a> as a bit more moderate, especially with the world watching. The Taliban spokesperson has assured the public that women would be allowed to go to work and school, <a href="https://www.france24.com/en/asia-pacific/20210817-taliban-say-afghan-women-will-be-allowed-to-work-and-study-according-to-islamic-law">“according to Islamic law.”</a> Part of the waiting game is seeing in practice what “according to Islamic law” really means.</p> <p>This week, the Taliban spokesperson has made assurances that <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/08/17/world/asia/taliban-news-conference-kabul.html">“there will be no violence against women.”</a> Few believe him.</p> <p>“We see them as how we know them,” Akbar, the Afghan activist, said. “The Taliban are who they are.”</p> <p>There are already signs the Taliban are who they always were. One TV news anchor in Afghanistan said she was <a href="https://www.indiatoday.in/world/story/they-said-you-are-a-woman-go-home-afghan-journalist-talks-about-life-after-taliban-takeover-1842868-2021-08-19">turned away from work</a>. “You are not allowed, go home,” she said she was told.</p> <div> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"> <p lang="en" dir="ltr" xml:lang="en">Shabnam Dawran, Afghanistan’s National Radio Television news presenter: “I went to <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/RTA?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#RTA</a> but they told me that the regime has changed. you are not allowed, go home". <a href="https://t.co/xJ4XcpamRo">pic.twitter.com/xJ4XcpamRo</a></p> — Muslim Shirzad (@MuslimShirzad) <a href="https://twitter.com/MuslimShirzad/status/1427982504443645963?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 18, 2021</a></blockquote> </div> <p>As they began retaking territory, <a href="https://www.france24.com/en/asia-pacific/20210814-afghan-women-girls-fear-return-to-dark-days-as-taliban-poised-to-take-kabul">the Taliban reportedly sent home female students and professors in Herat</a>. A female university student in Kabul <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/aug/15/an-afghan-woman-in-kabul-now-i-have-to-burn-everything-i-achieved">told the Guardian</a> that she would have “to burn everything I achieved in 24 years of my life. Having any ID card or awards from the American University is risky now.” There are reports of the Taliban going door to door <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/afghans-tell-of-executions-forced-marriages-in-taliban-held-areas-11628780820">looking for any unmarried woman</a> between the ages of 14 and 45 to marry off to Taliban soldiers. A few women I reached out to in Afghanistan declined to speak because they said, almost uniformly, that they are afraid.</p> <p>“Women are not even leaving their homes because they don’t feel safe,” Lida Azim, an organizer with <a href="https://twitter.com/afghanstomorrow?lang=en">Afghans for a Better Tomorrow</a>, said. “They might be allowed to go to work in school, but it’s a huge intimidation tactic.”</p> <p>Akbar’s volunteer organization works with children who have lost their parents, often from conflict, and with mothers, including some who’ve escaped domestic violence. Her group connects people with support services like counseling, medical checkups, food. The goal, Akbar said, was to create social reform through volunteerism. As the Taliban rushed through Afghanistan, the work stopped. “Because of the type of work that we were doing, our volunteers do not feel safe continuing to work in Afghanistan, unfortunately, and their lives are at risk,” she said.</p> <figure class="e-image"><span class="e-image__inner"><span class="e-image__image" data-original="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22795776/GettyImages_1234731505.jpg"><picture class="c-picture" data-cid="site/picture_element-1629840365_9235_7427" data-cdata='{"asset_id":22795776,"ratio":"*"}'><source srcset="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/CSkArtPTxxbaD7_-pdxf59VAaxY=/0x0:1280x622/320x0/filters:focal(0x0:1280x622):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22795776/GettyImages_1234731505.jpg 320w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/wakNNld50bHwWhRk4cvfQH_FSao=/0x0:1280x622/520x0/filters:focal(0x0:1280x622):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22795776/GettyImages_1234731505.jpg 520w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/O_8h9DcNaJXEIVHmM__6CFUaQQ4=/0x0:1280x622/720x0/filters:focal(0x0:1280x622):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22795776/GettyImages_1234731505.jpg 720w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/_RlXuxyin4MXnTPR9JW72HhYASE=/0x0:1280x622/920x0/filters:focal(0x0:1280x622):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22795776/GettyImages_1234731505.jpg 920w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/fEPWRaPbzZ_nTZG_i4SKj2_I0Wo=/0x0:1280x622/1120x0/filters:focal(0x0:1280x622):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22795776/GettyImages_1234731505.jpg 1120w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/N2b1jLCg2GONy4OjnfmjvaOIj3U=/0x0:1280x622/1320x0/filters:focal(0x0:1280x622):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22795776/GettyImages_1234731505.jpg 1320w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/o8TSXUpHirXH0NGD9HupbB5VhNE=/0x0:1280x622/1520x0/filters:focal(0x0:1280x622):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22795776/GettyImages_1234731505.jpg 1520w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/ZvjvI6TwTsLvhKtOq4YFWTpczgA=/0x0:1280x622/1720x0/filters:focal(0x0:1280x622):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22795776/GettyImages_1234731505.jpg 1720w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/5RUO1X5DjfRHr3qlrpFW4JcrPZc=/0x0:1280x622/1920x0/filters:focal(0x0:1280x622):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22795776/GettyImages_1234731505.jpg 1920w" sizes="(min-width: 1221px) 846px, (min-width: 880px) calc(100vw - 334px), 100vw" type="image/webp" /> <img alt="" data-upload-width="1280" sizes="(min-width: 1221px) 846px, (min-width: 880px) calc(100vw - 334px), 100vw" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/zDiQnTEac0jlp4_KBZHlgQ2GIzE=/0x0:1280x622/1200x0/filters:focal(0x0:1280x622):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22795776/GettyImages_1234731505.jpg" srcset="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/5E9Iw2W4D-pLY7QQmx8RtpzLaHw=/0x0:1280x622/320x0/filters:focal(0x0:1280x622):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22795776/GettyImages_1234731505.jpg 320w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/5soPw1XqsekmeJwDYOLu1pjpQPc=/0x0:1280x622/520x0/filters:focal(0x0:1280x622):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22795776/GettyImages_1234731505.jpg 520w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/jNsqISD3hJf6zXHa94T7HSLEtBY=/0x0:1280x622/720x0/filters:focal(0x0:1280x622):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22795776/GettyImages_1234731505.jpg 720w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/qqtrUOA3d1KmTd94uQQ9G9OYmAM=/0x0:1280x622/920x0/filters:focal(0x0:1280x622):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22795776/GettyImages_1234731505.jpg 920w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/chN-ALVMF5CXQRpZcqeeJtqzSAY=/0x0:1280x622/1120x0/filters:focal(0x0:1280x622):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22795776/GettyImages_1234731505.jpg 1120w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/eK5aPKTQMCx2O1ko4bJMPzTfwlg=/0x0:1280x622/1320x0/filters:focal(0x0:1280x622):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22795776/GettyImages_1234731505.jpg 1320w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/MgNk6CKCSjtCWWoIDBCepXUvbvo=/0x0:1280x622/1520x0/filters:focal(0x0:1280x622):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22795776/GettyImages_1234731505.jpg 1520w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/PmVZGmWdqFcMgduJ6kwQfgHlLt8=/0x0:1280x622/1720x0/filters:focal(0x0:1280x622):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22795776/GettyImages_1234731505.jpg 1720w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/fkX0LgcODnxKclVcyOZi8QCYf5I=/0x0:1280x622/1920x0/filters:focal(0x0:1280x622):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22795776/GettyImages_1234731505.jpg 1920w" /></picture></span></span> <figcaption><span class="e-image__meta">Women demand the protection of Afghan women’s rights in front of the Presidential Palace in Kabul on August 17.</span></figcaption> <span class="e-image__meta"><cite>Sayed Khodaiberdi Sadat/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images</cite></span></figure> <p>Others who work with nonprofit organizations or networks in Afghanistan also do not know what will happen to their female staff and volunteers. They fear that if the humanitarian situation worsens in Afghanistan — <a href="https://www.stripes.com/theaters/middle_east/2021-08-17/kabul-money-concerns-banks-government-offices-closed-taliban-going-into-neighborhoods-2581356.html">banks are closed</a>, services are scarce, thousands of people were displaced by the Taliban offensive, <a href="https://www.bradenton.com/news/business/article253566594.html">the threat of hunger</a> looms — those services will be desperately needed. Some said they are still unsure whether or how their ability to deliver aid might be affected and what that means for the families who rely on it.</p> <p>But defiance accompanies this fear and uncertainty. Afghans, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/aug/19/several-reported-killed-taliban-shoot-crowds-waving-afghan-flag">despite the threat of violence</a>, have protested the Taliban takeover. Women are among them, leading them.</p> <div> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"> <p lang="en" dir="ltr" xml:lang="en">Protest against Taliban in Kabul led by women.</p> <p>Yesterday Taliban opened fire at protesters and killed at least three people but today people took to the streets again to protest against Taliban. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Afghanistan?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Afghanistan</a> <a href="https://t.co/qROeJKn4sL">pic.twitter.com/qROeJKn4sL</a></p> — Masih Alinejad ️ (@AlinejadMasih) <a href="https://twitter.com/AlinejadMasih/status/1428341967675695104?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 19, 2021</a></blockquote> </div> <p>Even women who are intimidated are trying to go to work. Wardak, who also founded <a href="https://www.herafghanistan.com/">HerAfghanistan</a>, a network of women in Afghanistan, mentioned one girl in her network who went to her job last week in Kabul. “She went — terrified. But she went,” Wardak said.</p> <p>Nader said that even if women couldn’t go to their jobs, they are leaving their homes, just to go outside. They go with a sense of fear, not knowing what is going to happen or what the reaction of one particular Taliban soldier might be, she said. “But they do go out.”</p> <p>“Just to tell [them] that we are here, we are not gone,” Nader said.</p> <p>Some Afghan activists told me they see this as an opportunity for women to push back, especially as the world is watching. “Right now, because Taliban wants international recognition, we have to push boundaries to see how far we can go,” Wardak said.</p> <p>The Taliban will need <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/08/21/business/afghanistan-economy.html">foreign money if they want to stay afloat</a>. This could be a place of leverage, <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/un-aid-groups-appeal-afghanistan-funding-vow-stay-2021-08-19/">as international legitimacy</a> will depend on whether the Taliban meets its commitments on human and women’s rights. At the same time, activists worry that sanctions or other policies to put pressure on the government will trickle down and increase the suffering of the Afghan people.</p> <p>Activists said they still want the Taliban held accountable, but the US and coalition allies have ceded some of their leverage as they depart. Military intervention did not bring lasting peace or democracy or rights. But that does not mean the United States or the rest of the world can wash its hands of it all.</p> <p>Akbar spent last week fielding calls, filling out visa forms, writing letters. After one day of this, when she looked at the spreadsheet she uses to record her efforts, she counted more than 100 people, all desperate to leave Afghanistan.</p> <p>Many of the people she is trying to help are women, though not all. The return of the Taliban has put many lives at risk, including those who worked <a href="https://www.npr.org/2021/08/16/1028016074/an-afghan-interpreter-for-the-u-s-army-is-trying-to-get-out-of-afghanistan">with the US military or coalition forces</a> or international organizations or the Afghan government. Ethnic and religious minorities <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/fears-abroad-fate-hazara-minority-taliban-take-control-2021-08-17/">also face real threats</a>. Women, of course, cut across all those categories or are associated with those who do. There are also the women who became leaders in the past two decades — activists, advocates, and political leaders, who fear they may become direct Taliban targets. They can’t, activists say, stay in Afghanistan and be safe.</p> <p>Which is why many activists say that what many women need most in Afghanistan is a way to exit, as soon as possible. “The lives of these women are at risk,” Akbar said. “They will get killed if they stay in Afghanistan.”</p> <figure class="e-image"><span class="e-image__inner"><span class="e-image__image" data-original="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22795777/GettyImages_1234187503.jpg"><picture class="c-picture" data-cid="site/picture_element-1629840365_7562_7428" data-cdata='{"asset_id":22795777,"ratio":"*"}'><source srcset="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/97GE0lbkDNhkc3Ty-MOB3cw9LI8=/0x0:2998x2000/320x0/filters:focal(0x0:2998x2000):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22795777/GettyImages_1234187503.jpg 320w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/6bAOtnHMC1yyDkmW4jCgdjHx5QY=/0x0:2998x2000/520x0/filters:focal(0x0:2998x2000):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22795777/GettyImages_1234187503.jpg 520w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/XCQ6NUxPXiWSYDT4_T-bQeVobSY=/0x0:2998x2000/720x0/filters:focal(0x0:2998x2000):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22795777/GettyImages_1234187503.jpg 720w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/WAxGXARctemhmwermb3RUQb17yM=/0x0:2998x2000/920x0/filters:focal(0x0:2998x2000):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22795777/GettyImages_1234187503.jpg 920w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/mAHXmoHmJmi5PWDr-LcJVxo1GxU=/0x0:2998x2000/1120x0/filters:focal(0x0:2998x2000):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22795777/GettyImages_1234187503.jpg 1120w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/gG7tDYMZsewpJb6qKYGNGs3ThmA=/0x0:2998x2000/1320x0/filters:focal(0x0:2998x2000):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22795777/GettyImages_1234187503.jpg 1320w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/XWPOQLRf9hStvSLTWjpBAcANgqw=/0x0:2998x2000/1520x0/filters:focal(0x0:2998x2000):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22795777/GettyImages_1234187503.jpg 1520w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/HXS1GcXz2pktu6RjM0L5FLO4ksY=/0x0:2998x2000/1720x0/filters:focal(0x0:2998x2000):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22795777/GettyImages_1234187503.jpg 1720w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/T1yP2YExzd_2lSYNl67PghnL4_U=/0x0:2998x2000/1920x0/filters:focal(0x0:2998x2000):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22795777/GettyImages_1234187503.jpg 1920w" sizes="(min-width: 1221px) 846px, (min-width: 880px) calc(100vw - 334px), 100vw" type="image/webp" /> <img alt="" data-upload-width="2998" sizes="(min-width: 1221px) 846px, (min-width: 880px) calc(100vw - 334px), 100vw" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/U6qUvMHL4gUIz-ZKSymcnusWkK4=/0x0:2998x2000/1200x0/filters:focal(0x0:2998x2000):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22795777/GettyImages_1234187503.jpg" srcset="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/oUr87SP8j7eb2BNNg1txu-F6x-U=/0x0:2998x2000/320x0/filters:focal(0x0:2998x2000):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22795777/GettyImages_1234187503.jpg 320w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/HNjA518fwaIIWcxtta_L0Kh2kIc=/0x0:2998x2000/520x0/filters:focal(0x0:2998x2000):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22795777/GettyImages_1234187503.jpg 520w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/pQ3fCV8jUpWt12qtYvaWEXPYi6s=/0x0:2998x2000/720x0/filters:focal(0x0:2998x2000):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22795777/GettyImages_1234187503.jpg 720w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/URtmgOZaRADWL-aje08l6gRl6SQ=/0x0:2998x2000/920x0/filters:focal(0x0:2998x2000):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22795777/GettyImages_1234187503.jpg 920w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/QPa79HZ8HtXSKoKApaSvzvISxDA=/0x0:2998x2000/1120x0/filters:focal(0x0:2998x2000):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22795777/GettyImages_1234187503.jpg 1120w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/UJ6rjXqq2D6PSKStt-RnuT2jsWU=/0x0:2998x2000/1320x0/filters:focal(0x0:2998x2000):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22795777/GettyImages_1234187503.jpg 1320w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/GDl1Douu7Nk5gIxkQiRRY5LGxJU=/0x0:2998x2000/1520x0/filters:focal(0x0:2998x2000):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22795777/GettyImages_1234187503.jpg 1520w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/JKbmmh0iX32JD6BH_2bJWNq_s_E=/0x0:2998x2000/1720x0/filters:focal(0x0:2998x2000):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22795777/GettyImages_1234187503.jpg 1720w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/C_LsPtlUTT5rsonOrlAAzN44nqs=/0x0:2998x2000/1920x0/filters:focal(0x0:2998x2000):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22795777/GettyImages_1234187503.jpg 1920w" /></picture></span></span> <figcaption><span class="e-image__meta">Students walk out after classes at the Zarghoona high school in Kabul on July 25. There is widespread fear that the Taliban will bar girls and women from work and access to education.</span></figcaption> <span class="e-image__meta"><cite>Paula Bronstein/Getty Images</cite></span></figure> <p>Since August 14, the US says it has evacuated <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/us-military-evacuated-more-than-10000-people-kabul-sunday-2021-08-23/">more than 37,000 people</a>; the pace has increased in recent days, with about 11,000 or so leaving each day, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/live/2021/08/23/world/taliban-afghanistan-biden-news">reports the New York Times</a>. Still, in the past week, the chaotic scenes outside the Kabul airport, and <a href="https://twitter.com/Tmgneff/status/1429776109474832385?s=20">report</a> after <a href="https://twitter.com/clarissaward/status/1428916213258899461?s=20">report</a> of the difficulty of getting through, have revealed how desperate people are. The United States is now deploying troops to get Americans and <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/live/2021/08/23/world/taliban-afghanistan-biden-news">their allies who are unable to make it to the airport</a>.</p> <p>Many Afghans who helped the US military or government may be eligible for <a href="https://twitter.com/KrishVignarajah/status/1426933296068505600?s=20">Special Immigrant Visas (SIVs)</a>, but as the New York Times <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/08/18/us/politics/afghanistan-women-protection.html">reports</a>, many of those jobs, like interpreters, were filled by men.</p> <p>Which is why many activists fear that women may be left out of some of these programs, especially the activists, journalists, and political leaders who are directly at risk now that the US is leaving. Advocacy groups are calling on the Biden administration <a href="https://www.womensrefugeecommission.org/press-releases/womens-refugee-commission-urges-biden-administration-to-immediately-evacuate-afghan-womens-rights-activists-families-trapped-in-country/">to prioritize and expedite</a> the evacuation of women’s rights activists, journalists, lawmakers, and other public figures, as have some <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/08/18/us/politics/afghanistan-women-protection.html">members of Congress</a>.</p> <p>“As a global community, not just United States, we need to talk about how do we let them in, how do we open our doors?” Homayra Yusufi, with the Afghan-American Council and the Partnership for the Advancement of New Americans, said.</p> <p>As many pointed out, the US and its coalition allies have a moral obligation. There is an emergency right now, and whatever happens in the future can’t be completely separated from the decades of conflict and intervention. As Azim, of Afghans for a Better Tomorrow, said, for the US and Western allies, the responsibility is “on their hands.”</p> <p>Of course, not everyone can — or wants — to flee Afghanistan. Activists say there’s still a role for the international community in helping people who remain in the country: international aid, specifically, to help the coming humanitarian crisis and try to shore up grassroots groups that do provide health and other support services.</p> <p>International support may depend on what the Taliban might do around women’s rights in Afghanistan. But right now, there is an immediate emergency — to evacuate women who are being targeted by the Taliban or fear they might be very soon. Those in Afghanistan, desperate to leave, likely believe they have no other choice.</p> <p>“I am getting calls back to back,” Yusufi said, “as are all of the organizations that work on refugee issues — or just getting bombarded from calls from family members, calls coming in from Afghanistan, being like, ‘I need help, I need to get out right now.’”</p> <br /> <br /> source <a href="https://www.vox.com/22630912/women-afghanistan-taliban-united-states-war">https://www.vox.com/22630912/women-afghanistan-taliban-united-states-war</a>

vox Women’s rights have an uncertain future in Afghanistan

Afghanistan, after the Taliban takeover , is a waiting game. And for Afghan women, the waiting game is agonizing. The last time the Taliban...

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