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Ghaith Abdul-Ahad is a Beirut-based journalist for The Guardian newspaper in London. He has written about Afghanistan’s “dancing boys” or “bacha bazi.” These boys are mostly between the ages of 14-18, and are hired to dance at private parties. It was an ancient tradition banned by the Taliban. But now it’s back: older men in northern Afghanistan are hiring out young male dancers to entertain them. However, the expectation is not only to dance for the men, but also to have sex with them. (Photo: Ghaith Abdul-Ahad)
Your report on “Dancing Boys” was full of descriptors like “weird” and “strange” all by way of making us well aware that you think the culture is unthinkable. Take a look at your own culture’s sexual habits before sending out bile about another’s. Is this report simply meant to further prejudice us against icky unhuman Afgans?
I ran a search on the Guardian article for “weird” and “strange”; not a single hit. Though I personally find the practice much worse. Anyway, Abdul-Ahad’s article made it fairly clear that bacha bazi is not uniformly popular throughout the country (and that it’s actually persecuted by Islamic and national law), gave a glimpse at what socio-cultural pressures may contribute to it, and even dabbed into the psyche of participants/facilitators. I just don’t see prejudice against Afghan culture at large in this article.
I agree completely with the above comment. The report was unbelievably biased. I would expect this kind of thing from CNN, but public radio? Shame on you.
Sexual slavery is one thing, but why is it so strange to use men and boys to play womens’ roles, or for women not to be allowed to perform for men? This isn’t a unique practice; there are many similar examples globally from throughout history. Two examples that come to mind are the kabuki theater tradition in Japan, and since the author of this report is from The Guardian, English theater in the era of Shakespeare.
Apprentices in 16th century Turkey in Orhan Pamuk’s My Name is Red served a similar sexual function in addition to their apprenticeship (they did not have to dance also). I wondered about this practice when I read the book. Did not know if the author made it up (and wondered what he was thinking) or where on earth it came from.
@JEFF LADD: Rape & sexual torture, and sexual subjugation is wrong in all times, all places, no matter how you spin it.
Wrong in the extreme and complete sense.
ASH, I agree with you rape & sexual torture are always wrong. The “weird” and “strange” thing is that men in this part of the world claim to be Muslims, yet don’t see anything wrong with enslaving children for their own sexual pleasure. The descriptions of “weird” and “strange” were applied to the men and their skewed belief system, NOT to the dancing or the boys.