Over thirty years ago, Sharbat Gula’s piercing green eyes, framed by a worn headscarf and a backdrop of war-torn Afghanistan, became etched in global memory in 1984. Steve McCurry’s photograph, titled ‘Afghan Girl’, graced the cover of National Geographic, transforming a young refugee into a symbol of ‘human resilience’ amidst conflict. For Sharbat, the impact of that iconic image was far more nuanced – a double-edged sword that brought both unwanted fame and a sense of being reduced to a spectacle. Her anonymity was shattered, and her face, once a private expression of sorrow, became public property. She was thrust into the spotlight, her personal narrative reduced to a single, powerful image. Tourists sought her out, journalists hounded her, and even her safety became a concern. The Western media’s fascination with Sharbat’s story highlights an important issue: the tendency to reduce complex tragedies to digestible human narratives. While such stories can raise awareness and evoke empathy, they can also risk decontextualizing and sensationalizing suffering. The focus on Sharbat’s individual plight, while undeniably moving, was prone to overshadowing the broader political and historical context of the Soviet-Afghan War. Her story, consumed…
Suffering is Not a Story: Rethinking Media Coverage of Gaza
December 14, 2023
