Actually women in Afghanistan can drive cars ( unless theyre in the rural mountain regions in which case there is a strong possibility their menfolk may object :P)
There were many raised eyebrows for the first ones who drove about after the fall of the taliban and they were brave to do it but its a less and less unusual sight in the cities.
*Smiles* really the main difference between male drivers and female drivers in Afghanistan is that the men can usually bribe the offical into giving them a licence without taking the test whilst women really do have to pass their test.....which they seemingly have gotten rather good at since well over half of those that take it pass first time
Whilst at last count 95 per cent of the men driving in Afghanistan hadnt taken the test
As to the benefits of make up and small business ownership......Really women in Afghanistan need only one thing in order to gain some measure of independance and that is a state which is secure enough and peaceful enough and for long enough for them to be able to feel secure. What with the Mujahadin(sp) and the Warlords the Taliban and the rest these women have long since learned the safest possible policy is to stay beneath the burka. I am a feminist but if the region I lived in was as unstable and likely to result in rape or attack as Afghanistan was before the Taliban or as repressed and ;likely to result in reprisals as Afghanistan under the taliban, I would feel safer under the burka.
As one woman in Afghanistan said recently to a journalist , " Give me security and I will take off the burka"
What they dont need is a bunch of westerners with our own ideas of liberalism and feminism goin over there and stirring up resentments in the more conservative elements of society as we basically confirm everything they feared about our unsavoury influence.