Tales about Afghan Women After the U.S. Lost the War in Afghanistan in 2021: A Frame Analysis of Coverage in The New York Times

This study investigates how U.S. news media framed Afghan women’s identities and experiences in the context of the Taliban’s return to power after the U.S. military withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan. In this qualitative inquiry, I examined 11 in-depth, human-interest stories in The New York Times, a mainstream news organization known for its influence on coverage of international and global affairs. A frame analysis was applied to identify salient frames and their ideological underpinnings. The findings show two dominant frames in the coverage, women’s rights and victimhood, articulated through three rhetorical strategies—binary oppositions, comparing loss vs. gain, and emphasis on the resistance of Afghan women. This framing reproduced ideological narratives in support of the political agenda of the U.S. government against the Taliban based on Western-centric notions of progress and freedom for women, with Islamophobic and hijabophobic undertones. The coverage de-emphasized historical, social, and religious complexities, missing the opportunity to contribute culturally grounded understandings of Afghan women’s diverse voices and gendered experiences. Hence, despite the framing emphasis on women’s rights and resistance, the ideological underpinnings of coverage ended up subordinating the reporting on women’s issues and struggles to the geopolitical interests of the U.S.