Topic > The Impact of the Bacha Posh Ritual on a Child's Gender Identity

For some people, gender identity is something trivial that can change in a matter of time, but I believe it is more than simple way someone dresses or behaves. Gender identity is how a person identifies himself or herself in terms of character, feelings, mannerisms, and beliefs. In most of the world, your physical appearance determines your gender identity and the gender roles you will be assigned. There is simply something more to consider when creating a person's gender identity. Bacha posh is the dressing of a daughter as a son when the family has no sons in order to gain or maintain family reputation status. In Afghanistan it is practiced very commonly and has existed for centuries. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay Girls will be cared for, treated, and their name will be changed to that of a boy during this period. Now they can play outside with the rest of the boys, go shopping alone, attend school and carry out a male's household errands (Qadiry, 2012). In any society people can be cruel, and some of these children who are bacha posh have to survive demands of bullying from others who want them to prove their gender. No one, especially a child who is trying to understand the world they find themselves in, should have to go through something as humiliating as having to prove to themselves that they are a girl or a boy. Once they begin to physically develop their sexual characteristics, or around age 10, they are transformed back into a girl. These girls are pushed back into a world where they no longer have the same opportunities they once had when they lived as boys; they are now limited in what they can do, wear, and even go (D'Aki, 2018). They cannot freely explore the world or receive an education as a boy is allowed. Girls who go through all of this in their lives not only end up facing immense lifestyle changes when they are reconverted to being women, but they also face a huge cognitive dilemma about who they are as a person. The things they did as a boy during his childhood years, such as playing outside with other children, going out in public without restrictions or chaperones, receiving a higher level of respect than the rest of the children at home, created the person he is . Everything they could do and challenge the rules of society allowed them to grow socially and develop a greater sense of self-confidence and the belief that they could do anything they set their minds to. Masculine mannerisms, behaviors and ideas have been ingrained in them throughout their childhood since they became bacha posh. Since then they have been carrying out the tasks of a boy who should one day become a man, and when the time comes for them to be reconverted to the female sex, all this is taken away from them. The foundation of the identity of who they were on the path to becoming is taken away from them overnight. How can we not believe that the child doesn't get confused and upset at this point? They are very capable of asking themselves, “Who am I and what do I do now?” They are forced back into a gender role they are unfamiliar with by their parents and cultural society. For bacha posh children who are not so accepting of the idea of ​​being a girl and the role they will take part in, this situation can create a lot of frustration and relationship problems within the family, as we see happen in the story of Ukmina Manoori (Manoori , et al, 2014). The child who had once been a close son to his father.