The Underground Girls of Kabul

In Search of a Hidden Resistance in Afghanistan

De: Jenny Nordberg

Narrado por: Kirsten Potter

An investigative journalist uncovers a hidden custom in Afghanistan that will transform your understanding of what it means to grow up as a girl.

“An astonishingly clear picture of this resourceful, if imperfect, solution to the problem of girlhood in a society where women have few rights and overwhelming restrictions.”—The Boston Globe

In Afghanistan, a culture ruled almost entirely by men, the birth of a son is cause for celebration and the arrival of a daughter is often mourned as misfortune. A bacha posh (literally translated from Dari as “dressed up like a boy”) is a third kind of child—a girl temporarily raised as a boy and presented as such to the outside world. Jenny Nordberg, the reporter who broke the story of this phenomenon for the New York Times, constructs a powerful and moving account of those secretly living on the other side of a deeply segregated society where women have almost no rights and little freedom.

The Underground Girls of Kabul is anchored by vivid characters who bring this remarkable story to life: Azita, a female parliamentarian who sees no other choice but to turn her fourth daughter Mehran into a boy; Zahra, the tomboy teenager who struggles with puberty and refuses her parents’ attempts to turn her back into a girl; Shukria, now a married mother of three after living for twenty years as a man; and Nader, who prays with Shahed, the undercover female police officer, as they both remain in male disguise as adults.

At the heart of this emotional narrative is a new perspective on the extreme sacrifices of Afghan women and girls against the violent backdrop of America’s longest war. Divided into four parts, the book follows those born as the unwanted sex in Afghanistan, but who live as the socially favored gender through childhood and puberty, only to later be forced into marriage and childbirth. The Underground Girls of Kabul charts their dramatic life cycles, while examining our own history and the parallels to subversive actions of people who live under oppression everywhere.

worth the read

Very well written and informative. Helps understand the culture of why the beliefs establish so much of what occurs and how hard it is to change this string held beliefs. It was interesting to learn that reputation is a more valuable currency than actual currency.

Amazing!

It is a great mix of documentary and first person story telling! What a great read!!!

Glad I read/listened to this book

A great book - good narrator - easy to listen to- highly recommend for better insight into the complex role of women in afganistan

All women should read this book

The accounts of the Afghani girls and women are frightening, but intimately inspiring. As American or Western women we are so casual about our freedoms. Seeing the plight of these women makes our status something we should value and fight fiercely to protect!

Great journalist writing

Glad writers like this exist. Highly recommend this book to anyone looking to expand their mind