CHAO: So, I was wondering if you could tell me a little bit about your background. When did you first come across this practice of bacha posh? HASHIMI: So, it's interesting -- when you grow up, within ...

Sanam, a bacha posh, a girl living as a boy, sits next to her mother and father during an interview in their house, in Kabul, Afghanistan, Dec. 7, 2021. In the heavily patriarchal, male-dominated ...

From the comfort of my American home, it’d be easy to dismiss this age-old custom from my family’s homeland as fundamentally backwards. No doubt the practice perpetuates the idea that girls are less ...

It may seem strange, if not downright unbelievable, that in a society obsessed with maintaining strict gender roles, one form of transvestism has become widespread and even acceptable. We are talking ...

So you're not a "10" in every which way. But you're probably pretty spectacular in some way, and definitely good enough in most areas of life. If ever there were a time to stop beating yourself up for ...

Mehran, age 6, first arrived at her kindergarten in Kabul as Mahnoush, in pigtails and a pistachio dress. When school shut down for a break, Mahnoush left and never returned. Instead a short-haired, ...

In a single afternoon, with the help of a haircut, a pair of pants from the bazaar, and a denim shirt with “superstar” printed on the back, Azita went from having four daughters to three, her youngest ...

KABUL: In a Kabul neighbourhood, a gaggle of boys kick a yellow ball around a dusty playground, their boisterous cries echoing off the surrounding apartment buildings. Dressed in sweaters and jeans or ...

KABUL: In a Kabul neighborhood, a gaggle of boys kick a yellow ball around a dusty playground, their boisterous cries echoing off the surrounding apartment buildings. Dressed in sweaters and jeans or ...