Shopkeepers cover mannequins' heads in aluminum foil, wigs, cloth sacks and black plastic bags across Kabul, Afghanistan, to adhere to the Taliban's strict religious codes.
The hooded mannequins are one symbol of the Taliban’s puritanical rule over Afghanistan.
But in a way, they are also a small show of resistance and creativity by Kabul’s dress merchants.
Initially, the Taliban wanted the mannequins to be outright beheaded.
Not long after they seized power in August 2021, the Taliban Ministry of Vice and Virtue decreed all mannequins must be removed from shop windows or their heads taken off, according to local media.
They based the order on a strict interpretation of Islamic law that forbids statues and images of the human form since they could be worshipped as idols.
Some clothes sellers complied. But others pushed back.
They complained they’d be unable to display their clothes properly or would have to damage valuable mannequins.
The Taliban amended their order and allowed the shop owners to cover the mannequins’ heads instead.
Shop owners have to balance obeying the Taliban with trying to attract customers.
The Taliban initially said they would not impose the same harsh rules over society as they did during their first rule in the late 1990s.
Since then, the Taliban have imposed harsher restrictions, particularly on women.
They have banned women and girls from schooling beyond the sixth grade, barred them from most jobs and demanded they cover their faces when outside.
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