Editing Cross-dressing (section)

==== Bacha posh ====
[[Bacha posh]], an Afghan tradition, involves the crossdressing of young Afghan girls by their families so that they present to the public as boys. Families without sons, or whose sons are heavily outnumbered by daughters, may choose to raise one of their daughters bacha posh for a number of reasons. Having a bacha posh daughter may ease financial burdens, as girls and women are generally prohibited from work in contemporary Afghanistan,<ref>{{Cite web |date=2022-12-24 |title=Taliban bans women from working for domestic, foreign NGOs in Afghanistan |url=https://www.pbs.org/newshour/world/taliban-ban-women-from-working-for-domestic-foreign-ngos-in-afghanistan |access-date=2023-10-10 |website=PBS NewsHour |language=en-us}}</ref><ref name=":02">{{cite book |last1=Billaud |first1=Julie |title=Kabul Carnival: Gender Politics in Postwar Afghanistan |date=2015 |publisher=University of Pennsylvania Press |isbn=978-0-8122-4696-4 |jstor=j.ctt13x1pdw }}{{page needed|date=November 2023}}</ref> and improve their social status, as families with boys tend to be more well regarded in Afghan society.<ref>{{Cite web |last1=Hamidi |first1=Nilab |last2=Bohren |first2=Meghan |date=March 3, 2022 |title=Girls forced to act as boys in Afghanistan |url=https://findanexpert.unimelb.edu.au/news/40573-girls-forced-to-act-as-boys-in-afghanistan |access-date=2023-10-10 |website=findanexpert.unimelb.edu.au |archive-date=2023-10-12 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231012023927/https://findanexpert.unimelb.edu.au/news/40573-girls-forced-to-act-as-boys-in-afghanistan |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name=":02" /> While there is no law that prohibits [[bacha posh]], girls are expected to revert to traditional gender norms upon reaching [[puberty]].<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Keerthana |first1=R |last2=Jayanthi |first2=S |title=The Unjust Twisting: Bacha Posh custom of the Invisible Girl Children in Afghanistan from Nadia Hashimi's work |journal=European Chemical Bulletin |date=2023 |volume=12 |issue=10 |url=https://www.eurchembull.com/issue-content/the-unjust-twisting-bacha-posh-custom-of-the-invisible-girl-children-in-afghanistan-from-nadia-hashimi-s-work-8214 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231105132541/https://www.eurchembull.com/issue-content/the-unjust-twisting-bacha-posh-custom-of-the-invisible-girl-children-in-afghanistan-from-nadia-hashimi-s-work-8214 |url-status=dead |archive-date=November 5, 2023 |ssrn=4383274 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |title=Autonomy, Post-puberty Bacha Posh and Third World Feminism in Selected Afghan Fiction |journal=Journal of International Women's Studies |date=3 February 2023 |volume=25 |issue=1 |id={{ProQuest|2778390671}} |url=https://vc.bridgew.edu/jiws/vol25/iss1/13/ }}</ref><ref name=":1">{{Cite web |date=2022-01-16 |title=Afghan girls live as boys until they hit puberty, a temporary chance at freedom |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/afghanistans-bacha-posh-tradition-allows-girls-freedom-boys-rcna12216 |access-date=2023-10-01 |website=NBC News |language=en}}</ref> According to Thomas Barfield, an anthropology professor at [[Boston University]], bacha posh is "one of the most under-investigated" topics in the realm of gender studies, making difficult to determine exactly how common the practice is in Afghan society.<ref name=":1" /> However, some prominent female figures in Afghan society have admitted to being [[bacha posh]] in their youth. A more famous example of this is Afghan parliament member Azita Rafaat. Rafaat claims that [[bacha posh]] was a positive experience that built her self-confidence in Afghanistan's heavily patriarchal society and gave her a more well rounded understanding of women's issues in Afghanistan.<ref name=":02" />