But what if the same women came together to sew? And what if they did not actually sew, but read books, wrote poems and took lessons in literature?
Award-winning British journalist Christina Lamb (42) has been able to peek behind the veil of many oppressive regimes in her career, which spans more than 20 years, but she harbours a special love for Afghanistan.
She met the women of the Golden Needle Sewing School in 2001, shortly after the Taleban regime fell, and published a critically acclaimed book, The Sewing Circles of Herat, in 2002.
Eight years later, she reports the women of the Golden Needle Sewing School have not had a happy ending.
"Of the six key figures in my book, one has been murdered by her husband for writing poetry. Another has been killed also.
"Only one is still writing poetry," Ms Lamb told a packed audience at Wanaka's Festival of Colour yesterday.
"I thought one of the good things about removing the Taleban was that women were getting a better life . . .
"On paper, the situation looks much better but in practice it is not."
Ms Lamb talked quietly of the adventures, troubles and travels of a foreign correspondent.
The 42-year-old married mother of a 9-year-old boy survived the bomb-blast that killed Pakistan's opposition leader Benazir Bhutto in 2007.
She escaped an ambush in a small village in Afghanistan by hiding in irrigation trenches and running for her life across fields.
Two of her journalist friends were kidnapped last year in Peshawar and Kabul. They have not been released.
She has suffered her moments of doubt, especially after Ms Bhutto's bus was bombed, which her son witnessed on television.
To learn her son had asked his father whether he thought his mummy had survived was horrible.
"I thought quite hard about whether I should be doing this job any more," she said.
Despite the dangers, Ms Lamb loves what she does.
She hopes by bringing someone's story to the breakfast table of the Western world, she can help improve understanding of how other people live.
But for now, Ms Lamb has what her mother might describe as a more sensible job, she is the newly appointed US editor of British newspaper The Sunday Times, and begins her new role in July.
For the first time, she would be reporting on the making of US foreign policy rather than on its effects, she said.
