| About: Bacha Posh I thought I’d share something that I recently found out about: bacha posh. Definition In “Afghanistan and Pakistan” (source: Wikipedia), a bacha posh is a person (biologically female) who cross-dresses as a boy. Jobs: Men vs Women There are a lot of cultural differences between this part of the world and the Western world. In this part of the world, women and men have different tasks – some that only men are allowed to do, and some that women do. Women’s work involves cooking, cleaning, and taking care of the children. Men might work in the field and do manual labor. Some families do not have (enough) sons to take care of the jobs that the family needs done, so they take a daughter and raise her as a son. This grants the girl freedoms that she would not have experienced if she were raised as a girl. Freedoms By being a bacha posh, a girl is culturally permitted to do the work of a man to help out her family and also staves off the social stigma of a family not having any sons. Unlike other girls, the bacha posh does not have to be escorted outside her home by a male member of her family, and this leaves her free to do the shopping or run errands unaccompanied. The bacha posh might reluctantly be allowed to attend school, which is usually denied to girls. It is as if by dressing like a male and carrying herself like a male, society waives the questions and pretends the girl is indeed a male. Restrictions There are some things that, despite being a bacha posh, a girl is still not permitted to do. For instance, they consider it a disgrace for a military to use a girl as a fighter, though she might do other jobs like passing messages or surveillance. Also, to pass as a male, a bacha posh would have to give up feminine behavior/appearance. As an Adult This cross-dressed state of being a bacha posh is usually temporary and does not commonly last past puberty. It is considered culturally unacceptable for a woman to continue dressing like a man after she has reached around the age of ten (see note below). However, some people (like Ukmina Manoori) have stayed a bacha posh into adulthood. Some, having gained the respect of the people around them, play important roles in their community. Sources: 1. Just the "Afghanistan and Pakistan" part: from Wikipedia. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bacha_posh Note: Contrary to Ukmina's account (I think she mentioned they stop at age 10), Wiki says girls stop being bacha posh at around age "17-18". 2. The rest of this info I learned from “I Am a Bacha Posh” by Ukmina Manoori. This article was written in my own words, with the exception of the "Afghanistan and Pakistan" part as shown above. That I got from Wiki. |
CaecaNov 6, 2014 12:26 AM
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