ABSTRACT
Edward Said's seminal work on Orientalism helps to identify two prominent aspects of Western discursive construction of the other: violence and sexuality. Both of which help to inform material reality and suggests the images of Muslim women. Focusing on the story of Bibi Aisha as articulated by Time Magazine in 2010, this chapter examines the oppressed and mutilated Afghan woman who generates spectacle through imagery and the accompanying narrative, in the process inviting rescue attempts. Although it continues to fascinate the reader/viewer, the other type of Orientalist image, exemplified by the sexualized and exotic young Afghan girl, Sharbat Gula, whose 1985 image appeared on the cover of National Geographic, has receded into the background. The chapter also examines the politics surrounding the narrative construction of the Muslim exposed by WikiLeaks documents as the Taliban response to Aisha's mutilation. It concludes that few pay attention to many invisible Afghan women who live and struggle in first world countries, including Canada.
