Duhktar portrayed the frightening journey of a mother desperate to save her underage daughter from the violent leaders of another community. Herself the victim of an unhappy marriage, the mother, fearing for her daughters safety, endangers herself and another man who gives them shelter by fleeing the night of the marriage. As an American who has repeatedly taught to do what makes me happy and that my choices are my own, who has been taught to marry for love if I wish and to never let men be in charge of my life, this movie was sad not only in its plot but in its oppression of women, which is a huge issue in many countries today. It is a difficult line to walk to respect others’ culture while being put off by and occasionally outraged by some of their customs. This complete male domination of society is an aspect of this culture that, as a female engineer and an avid proponent of outreach to young girls to encourage them to take power over their own lives, I cannot accept and I hope I never have to deal with.  That men kill their female family members over insubordination, and that this behavior is condoned, is disgusting to me. No one person should be able to choose, on a whim, whether another person has the right to live or die.

I feel lucky to have been raised by such supportive parents who encouraged me to pursue anything I was interested in, who sent me to my room when I was wasn’t listening as a child, who ground their teeth through my questionable boy choices but let me figure out my life on my own. I feel lucky to live in a free country, and lucky to live in an area of this country where equality is considered important, where tolerance is high and people aren’t disgusted by gay marriage or little-known religions or the thought of gender equality. These things that we take for granted are worth a thought every now and again.