After Soraya tells Amir about her past, she says, "I'm so lucky to have found you. You're so different from every Afghan guy I've met” (180). How do Afghan women fare in America? Are they any better off than they were in Afghanistan before the Taliban seized power? There is a noticeable absence of women in the novel. How is this significant?

Afghan women are treated with sexism in America. For example, Amir says that while fathers and sons can speak openly about women, no Afghan daughter can ever openly discuss a man with her father. In addition, a father would not bring up a man with his daughter unless the man were an approved suitor whose father has asked the girl's parents' permission for marriage (147). While boys run around and largely do as they wish, girls are expected to remain virtuous and prepare for their weddings. Soraya tells Amir that she was living with a man, and her father threatened to shoot the man and himself if Soraya did not return home. One might argue that, in the book, women are not much better off in America than they were in Afghanistan before the Taliban.
The absence of women in the novel shows that women are cloistered away. Afghan boys spend most of their time with other boys and men. The role of women in the context of this society has been reduced to the point at which they are barely noticeable. Instead, men are figures who take part in society, while women are behind closed doors.