MMW thanks Carmen for the tip!
The Shameless blog recently covered The Burka Band, a group of Afghan women who sing punky songs about the burqa.
There are some pretty funny and poignant lines. And it’s a catchy beat!
Here’s their song/video. Discuss.
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I don’t know what to say. But I’ve watched the video multiple times and the song’s gotten stuck in my head.
Yeah, right? I was singing it all today.So, operating under the assumption that this video is made by Afghan women, I think it’s pretty cool. Punk is a genre for all the world’s discontent, I guess.
The tune kept me up all night. Thanks a lot. btw, article of the band here: http://www.lnd.dk/burkaband_eng.htmthe song was a hit in Germany. for real.
I’m impressed by the one who can play the guitar like that. Other than that, I have the same reaction. I don’t know what to say
Anisa, thanks for the link. This was a hit in Germany? That’s pretty cool. But I’m not too surprised. What else can you expect from a demographic that took David Hasselhoff to the top of the German charts? HA!
Let’s discuss the lyrics. What do you think of the fact that both the mother and father, grandmother and grandfather wear the burqa? It’s clear to everyone that this has never been the case (nor do the men wear the burqa in the video), so what do you think the purpose of including these lyrics was?
Melinda brings up a good point. Perhaps the gender-bending quality of the burqa and the images it brings up were intended for parody. Or maybe it is to point out the identity-erasing quality of the garment, i.e., it could be ANYONE under there. “If you want to meet your sister it could be your uncle, too!” All it did was make me laugh.
Zeynab:I agree. It’s the non-identity and consequently de-humanizing aspect of the burka they are satirizing.
i love burqa band! i feel like they are pointing to the opportunities for playing around with gender and anonymity that the burqa provides– it’s really subversive and queer.
Hi everybody, I feel bad, as an Afghan, for not knowing that something as cool as Burqa Band exists! The comments are really interesting. I feel that Burqa by the way, is not that bad as now it can be used as a protective shiled for women who wanna raise their voice. I wish the German group support was longer so they could have come up with more catchy, yet powerful songs. Now, the country has become a little bit more tolerant of women singing, so proably if they come forward, they might have gain supporters, at least among women!