By Alissa Coschigano
In the neighborhood of Kabul, Afghanistan, six year old Mehran Rafaat watches as her sisters can be looked at as the gender that they are, but she has to disguise herself everyday as a boy. Mehran does not get the luxury of wearing the head scarves and long black dresses when she goes to school. Instead, she must dress in a white shirt, green pants, and a tie around her neck. If she was born as a girl, why is she not able to show the rest of her community her true colors?
In the Afghan society, it is considered well being to have at least one son in a family. This is for the matter of passing on the family name and inheriting all the wealth from the son's father. To a family with all girls, it is frowned upon and they are looked at as being targeted for judgment among their society. Afghanistan is highly separated in the terms of gender, where men take the lead over woman. That being said, mothers will cut off one of the daughter's hair, and dress her in male clothing, in order to be accepted. It is easier for a male to find job experiences and be out on his own. Until the years of puberty, this mechanism will work for most. Once the time comes for a daughter to enter into womanhood, the masquerade must cease and desist.
Some societies are not allowed to show who their members really are. A lot of people disguise themselves in order to benefit for the entire family. One day, the time comes for everyone to see when a girl is a girl and a boy is a boy, but until that time, people in societies such as the members of Kabul, will have to suffice with being considered both genders, in order to be accepted.
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3 comments:
Alissa, I thought that your blog post was a very interesting piece on a subject I didn't know much about. It is so incredible to think of women in other cultures having to go to such great lengths to hide themselves. The only question I had was: After the women have matured and must reveal that they aren't men, does society look down on them for still not having a son, and even lying about actually having a daughter? Other than that, your post conveyed a story very well that really caught my attention.
Allissa, I found your blog post to be quite fascinating, I am somewhat familiar with afghan people and some of their customs but I had never heard this before. Thank you for educating me. Your post was engaging yet to the point, which was good. I liked how you posed the question at the end of the first paragraph it was very thought provoking. I would appreciate it if you could send me the link to where you found this article so I can read it in it’s entirety, you have sparked my intrest.
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