The Underground Girls of Kabul
By Jenny Nordberg. Crown, 368 pp, hardcover

Cross-dressing and gender-bending are not normally associated with highly conservative societies. In patriarchal cultures men are men, and women are as separate and subordinate as possible. So it seems surprising that Afghanistan, one of the most gender-segregated countries in the world, should be home to a quiet tradition of girls growing up as boys. Or does it?

Jenny Nordberg, an award-winning New York–based journalist, presents us with the hidden stories of the bacha posh, young girls who are prompted by their parents to dress, socialize, and act like “the ruling gender”.

In fluid narrative style, Nordberg explores the phenomenon through compelling individual portraits. She suggests that it is precisely the unbending limits imposed on girls and women that require them to become something else. For some, the motivation is social: families without sons are looked down upon. For others, the reasons are closer to survival. In places where women may not work or even venture outside unaccompanied by a male relative, having no son or brother can make earning money to feed the family nearly impossible. In most cases, gender is reversed at puberty; former sons are suddenly required to dress as girls and submit to enormous restrictions on behaviour and movement.

Avoiding simplistic explanations, Nordberg provides a nuanced view of the ways in which individual Afghans resist ideologies that invoke religion and culture to justify dehumanizing women.

Tracking the practice across ethnic groups and provinces, she encounters many bacha posh and much anecdotal evidence suggesting the practice is widespread and ancient. Not limited to Afghanistan, the practice exists wherever male identity is privileged. This should not be surprising. Even Shakespeare presents female characters who dress as men to do things not permitted to women!

In addition to presenting a rare glimpse of Afghan life, The Underground Girls of Kabul explores the ways that gender identity is shaped and policed. Extending well beyond Afghanistan, this book compels the reader to rethink gender differences. “What is the difference between men and women?” the girls are asked. They all have the same answer: “Freedom.”