Bacha Posh: A Study of The Micronarratives of Gender in Afghanistan

Abstract

The blitzkrieg destabilization of Afghanistan by major world powers and factional groups in contemporary times has triggered major academic works on the country. One witnessed a surge in interest and curiosity about the socio-cultural, religious, political, and economic dynamics of the country. Often regarded as one of the most unsafe country for women in the world, this paper will focus on the concept of a bacha posh in Afghanistan. A bacha posh is a Dari word for a girl disguised as a boy. This paper attempts to examine the power structures that ‘created’ a bacha posh in Afghanistan. The idea of a bacha posh in Afghanistan is a “performativity”, shaped by dialogues that moves beyond the “normative” gender binaries of male and female. A bacha posh move beyond the grand totalizing narratives of gender binaries to create a space that marked by fluidity and freedom. Even though the identity of a bacha posh is a shared deceit, created to serve the needs of an androcentric society, one cannot ignore its subversive nature. A bacha posh subverts the dictums of patriarchy by allowing the girl- child to re-define her subalternity. What happens if the realization of her subalternity results, not in striving for acceptance in the dominant framework of knowledge from which she is excluded, but in the establishment of an alternative centre?