The Trouble With Girls

There's a long tradition in Afghanistan of families with no sons choosing to bring up one of their daughters as a boy. For the girls this means growing up dressed in boy's clothes, answering to a boy's name and being allowed the freedoms and priviledges Afghan boys enjoy both within the family and outside. Girls can live like this until they are young adults, at which moment they are suddenly expected to revert to being girls, put on a dress and a scarf and conform to all the restrictions and rules imposed on Afghan girls. For many young women it's very hard to adjust to their new lives. An female Afghan MP spoke out recently about the difficulties facing girls in this situation, even though she herself admitted bringing up one of her daughters as a boy. The practice raises profound questions about why girls are still so undervalued in Afghan society and how difficult it is even for the new Facebook generation of modern young Afghans to challenge traditional prejudices.