It seems that not too many people have a desire to know. Plenty of people show a desire to do: climb mountains, play lacrosse, etc. I am reading "Deviant Dreams" by Sola Mafouz and Melaina Kapoor, a story of an Afghan girl raised in a time and place governed both by Islamic ideas of the place and way that women should be raised and live and government attempts to force people to live "properly". The Taliban emerged and imposed ideas, backed up by beatings, mutilations and executions.
As a male, I am impressed by motherhood and its big and lasting effect on women's lives. I think that having one or more children makes a big effect on women's lives and thinking. To have an additional imposed rule that females must not be educated seems very short-sighted and damaging to both individuals and their society. Speech and spoken language are clearly one of the most valuable and important human inventions. Right on top of that is reading, writing and other learned skills. Sometimes, the combination of the prod of being singled out and being robbed of an education plus a person's spirit and desire to be educated create a very strong drive to learn.
Because of the Depression, my mother did not get a chance to attend college until her 40's but then she earned a master's degree. Because of a home room math teacher and a guidance counselor, I attended college. Because of a regulation in the state of Maryland and another guidance counselor, I got into a PhD program at the University of Maryland. Because I learned to read and the existence of public libraries, I developed my nerdy side and fed my urge to read all the books there are. Of course, I never faced death threats for reading or studying.
