Dancing boys of Afghanistan

Homepage Feature

Dancing boys of Afghanistan

By The World ⋅ September 18, 2009 ⋅ Post a comment

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Download MP3
afganistan-boy-dancer-001 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)

Read The Guardian article

Discussion

7 comments for “Dancing boys of Afghanistan”

Jeff Ladd

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?

Michal Sienko

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.

G

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.
db

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.
Ash

@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.
Matthew Bro

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.
CM

The practice of using young boys for sexual means in any country is absolutely wrong! This practice is widely used amongst the Taliban in Afghanistan (Chai Boys) as well as in the Madrassas of Pakistan. Commanders and Religious leaders lur young men into their care and then use them for sexual means. It’s sick! A 10 year old boy (sometimes younger) should not be sentenced to this sick behavior! Anyone who defends the practice and who states that the practice is anything less than “weird” or “strange” likely has some perverse issues of their own to deal with. I would call the act FAR worse than “weird” or “strange”!

Search

Homepage Feature