Culture & Identity

"There are no statistics about how many Afghan girls masquerade as boys. But when asked, Afghans of several generations can often tell a story of a female relative, friend, neighbor or co-worker who grew up disguised as a boy. To those who know, these children are often referred to as neither “daughter” nor “son” in conversation, but as “bacha posh,” which literally means “dressed up as a boy” in Dari.

Afghan families have many reasons for pretending their girls are boys, including economic need, social pressure to have sons, and in some cases, a superstition that doing so can lead to the birth of a real boy. Lacking a son, the parents decide to make one up, usually by cutting the hair of a daughter and dressing her in typical Afghan men’s clothing. There are no specific legal or religious proscriptions against the practice. In most cases, a return to womanhood takes place when the child enters puberty. The parents almost always make that decision.

In a land where sons are more highly valued, since in the tribal culture usually only they can inherit the father’s wealth and pass down a name, families without boys are the objects of pity and contempt. Even a made-up son increases the family’s standing, at least for a few years. A bacha posh can also more easily receive an education, work outside the home, even escort her sisters in public, allowing freedoms that are unheard of for girls in a society that strictly segregates men and women.

But for some, the change can be disorienting as well as liberating, stranding the women in a limbo between the sexes. Shukria Siddiqui, raised as a boy but then abruptly plunged into an arranged marriage, struggled to adapt, tripping over the confining burqa and straining to talk to other women."

"According to a new study released by the Williams Institute for Sexual Orientation Law and Public Policy at the UCLA School of Law Friday, the proportion of women and minorities discharged from the United States military as a result of its so-called "Don't Ask Don't Tell" (DADT) policy has increased since 1997. The study (see PDF) examines the demographics of the 13,500 troops who have been discharged under DADT through 2009.

Findings include that the percentage of women discharged increased from 22 percent in 1997 to 39 percent in 2009. Women constituted a stable 14 to 15 percent of the military throughout this time period. Racial and ethnic minorities were approximately one third of DADT discharges in 2009, compared to about a quarter of similar discharges in the late 1990s.

In September, US District Court Judge Virginia Phillips ruled that DADT is unconstitutional on the basis that it violates both the first and fifth amendment rights of lesbian and gay service members. The Pentagon is currently undertaking a survey of service members to examine the potential impact of the repeal   In May, the House of Representatives voted to add an amendment to a defense spending bill that would repeal the policy after the survey is completed. A vote on this bill is anticipated as early as this week.

"Parda, which is also spelled purdah and means curtain in Urdu, is the practice of shielding women from men they are not directly related to, both through physical segregation and through the custom of modesty, that is, with shape-concealing clothing. It is observed by many women in rural areas of Pakistan, including the majority-Pathan northern belt bordering Afghanistan. In these parts, a family's honor is often tied to the chastity and obedience of its women — and protecting and defending the honor of women from verbal and physical harm is part of an ancient code of honor and revenge. But the code is all too often taken to extremes. Barely a week goes by without a story appearing in the Pakistani media about an enraged male — from across Pakistan's multiethnic spectrum — who has killed a female relative or relatives for some perceived infringement of "honor." For women adhering to parda, it's usually easier and safer for them to simply remain secluded in their homes.
 

"In Saudi Arabia, women may seldom be seen, but they are starting to be heard -- especially when it comes to the country's guardianship system.

Laws in the deeply conservative Kingdom are heavily influenced by religious leaders and they dictate that Saudi women can't study, can't work, can't travel, can't even open a bank account without permission from their guardians -- their closest male relatives.

'It gives men total control over women's lives,' Wajeha Al-Huwaider, one of Saudi Arabia's most vocal and visible women's rights activists, told CNN. "So they have no right to take any decisions regarding their own affairs."

Saudi Arabia's strict guardianship system has long drawn criticism. A 2008 report from Human Rights Watch stated that 'Saudi Arabia's male guardianship of women and policies of sex segregation stop women from enjoying their basic rights.'"

 "Fearing an ever-secular Syria might turn to radical Islam, authorities has quietly banned the niqab, a face-covering veil worn by some Muslim women, in public universities — a move welcomed by most Syrians.  The Minister of Higher Education Ghyath Barakat has given his directives that women wearing niqab would not be allowed to enter the Syrian universities, and has " totally rejected this phenomena which contradicts with the academic values and traditional morals and ethics of the Syrian society" a source said.  

The ban, which was not made public in state-run media, does not affect the hijab, or headscarf, which is favored by the vast majority of veiled Syrian women.  The majority of Syrians, of all different age groups, expressed support for getting niqabs and burqas not only out of schools and universities but out of all public places as well.  Others expressed that 'the ban is wrong as it touches personal freedom and certain way of expression.'"