Bacha posh

Bacha posh ("dressed up as a boy" in the Dari language) is a cultural practice in areas of Afghanistan where a family in which there are no sons may have a girl dress in characteristic male clothing and have her hair cut short,^[1] occupying an intermediate status in which she is treated as neither a daughter nor fully as a son. In Afghan culture, pressure exists to have a son to carry on the family name and to inherit his father's property. In the absence of a son, families may dress one of their daughters as a male, with some holding the superstition that having a bacha posh will make it more likely for a woman to give birth to a son in a subsequent pregnancy.^[2]

As a bacha posh, a girl is more readily able to attend school, escort her sisters in public places and find work, in addition to helping overcome the shame that a family experiences at not having any male children. The girl's status as a bacha posh usually ends when she enters puberty. Women raised as a bacha posh often have difficulty making the transition from life as a boy and adapting to the traditional constraints placed on women in Afghan society. While historical records are unclear as to how far back the practice dates, anecdotal evidence exists that places the custom going back several generations. Historian Nancy Dupree told a reporter from The New York Times that she recalled a photograph dating back to the early 1900s during the reign of Habibullah Khan in which women dressed as men guarded the king's harem, as men could not be trusted to protect the women.^[2]

Azita Rafaat, a legislator elected to the National Assembly of Afghanistan to represent Badghis Province, has had no sons and has raised one of her daughters as a bacha posh. She said she understood that "it's very hard for you to believe why one mother is doing these things to their youngest daughter", and that "things are happening in Afghanistan that are really not imaginable for you as a Western people."^[2]

Osama, the 2003 film made in Afghanistan written and directed by Siddiq Barmak, tells the story of a young girl in Afghanistan under Taliban rule who disguises herself as a boy, Osama, in order to support her family, as her father and uncle had both been killed during the Soviet war in Afghanistan and she and her mother would not be able to travel on their own without a male "legal companion".^[3]

In Afghan culture this is an widely accepted practice, not one that is looked down on by the community or society. It is seen as a recommended solution to the social pressures of not having a boy in the family. The practice does not just alleviate income problems for poor families.^[4] As far as experts can tell, the practice is fairly common, but due to its nature and the poor record keeping of the Afghan government, it is unclear just how many bacha posh there are. In Afghanistan, everyone knows about at least one family where this practice is going on if not in their own families.^[5]

Psychological Effects

Most bacha posh find it hard to socialize with other girls because they are comfortable with socializing with boys since that is what they grew up doing. Elaha, who was a bacha posh for twenty years, but switched back to being a girl when she entered university told the BBC that she switched back only because of traditions of society. The reason it is so hard for bacha posh to change back to being girls is because they are boys when they are supposed to be developing their personalities, so they develop boyish personalities because that is what they are taught. Some bacha posh feel as if they have lost essential childhood memories and their identities as girls. Others feel that it was good they got to experience the freedoms that they would not have if they had been normal girls growing up in Afghanistan.^[6] The change itself can also be very hard as almost, if not all, rights and privileges of the women are taken away in the transition between a man and a women. Many women do not want to go back once they have experienced freedom as a boy. The heart of the controversy over this practice in terms of the recent movement for Afghan women's rights is whether the practice of bacha posh empowers women and helps them succeed or if the practice is damaging psychologically. ^[7] Many of the women who have gone through the process say they feel that the experience is empowering as well as estranging. The true problem activists say is not the practice itself but women’s rights in the society. ^{[8] [9]}

Reentry Into Society

When bacha posh are of marriageable age (around 17-18, sometimes sooner) they are usually switched back to girls, though in rare cases it can occur even later.^[10] Often them being forced to marry someone, by their parents, makes the change occur. Many bacha posh do not want to get married when they are of marriageable age because they feel that once married they will be suppressed and abused by their husbands and society. This suppression is not unfounded, Afghan culture places men over women in their hierarchy. Furthermore, since the bacha posh are technically boys growing up, they do not learn what women are supposed to learn when they are young, like cooking, sewing and other household chores. This makes married life hard for them because they do not know how to do the essential things that they are expected to know.^[11]

Reference List

External Links

Women's View on News

See also

• Crossdressing
• Bacha bazi – an inverse Afghan tradition where boys are dressed up as girls
• Albanian sworn virgins