Essay Questions

What is Bacha Posh?

Bacha Posh is the concept of dressing one's daughters as sons until they reach puberty. Girls who are dressed as and living as boys enjoy the same kind of freedoms that young boys enjoy in Kabul, primarily because they are not conforming to a sexual identity. They are free instead to explore their own identity and pursue the interests and activities that appeal to them, just like boys do.

They are also allowed to interact with boys their age because there is no sexual identity that prohibits this when they are dressed as boys.

What are some of the negative results of bacha posh?

One of the main problems of bacha posh becomes evident when a girl reaches puberty. At this time, she is supposed to dress as a young woman, and basically give up all of the rights and freedoms that she had when dressed as a boy. Having tasted this life, and this freedom, understandably most girls do not want to be forced back into their life of oppression again. This leads to conflict with their families and in some cases adolescent women continue to dress as young men well into their twenties.

Other women find it difficult to develop their own identity. It is incredibly difficult to be oneself when one is hiding one's identity; bacha posh involves pretending to be something that they are not, and when done for long enough, prevents a woman from actually knowing herself at all. Many women report difficulties in their own marriages because they do not feel any kind of sexual feelings towards their husbands.

The author views Bacha Posh as liberating and powerful for women. Do you agree?

The author views this practice as empowering for women because it gives them rights that they never would have had, but it is difficult to agree with this viewpoint because the practice also emphasizes the belief that women are second class citizens when they are actually being themselves. They are empowered not because they are women, but because they are pretending not to be. Rather than empowering women to be themselves, and forcing society to embrace women's freedoms and individual rights, the practice actually reinforces the belief that freedom is not for women at all, just for boys.