Afghan Boys Are Prized, So Girls Live The Part

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/21/world/asia/21gender.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1

This is the article that I brought up in class today about Afghan girls growing up as boys. The difference between these girls and the David Reimer story is that these girls know that they are girls and just act as boys in public. Their families also begin to treat them as boys at home as well. It is still very important for Afghan women to give birth to a boy and when this doesn't happen their status in society decreases. The women and men are both affected by not having a boy, so they revert to having a girl act as a boy to increase their family's standing in society. Throughout the article though it looks like it can actually be somewhat of an advantage for the girls to dress and act as boys. They are given more freedom to leave the house, escort their sisters in public, participate in sports, more educational opportunities, and are able work outside of their home. The girls only act as boys until they are old enough to marry and then have to change back to being a girl. The article mentions that this can be problematic for some of the girls because their freedoms are drastically limited and they have to return to a burqa. The psychological effects that this would have on the little girls is not nearly as dramatic as it would be if they never knew that they were born a girl, but I think that going from having a lot of freedoms to very few freedoms very quickly could definitely have a negative impact on them.

Do you think this practice is harmful for the girls who have to act as boys growing up or could it be an advantage to grow up without the societal constraints put on Afghan girls?

How do you think this affects the girls' self-image and self-worth as a girl?

Abercrombie and Beauty

A recent case in the media directly tied into the article by Rice, discussing body and culture. On page 153 it reads, “Between the ages of eleven and fourteen, however, many girls face increasing challenges to their body and self-esteem.” This is the population of girls I currently work with, ages 12-14. We meet once a month to talk about issues that they deal with that are unique to them both as girls and as middle-schoolers. One of the issues that we will bring up at our upcoming meeting this weekend will be about the Abercrombie Ads portraying a “padded” swimsuit for girls as young as 8.

This story has drawn a lot of attention and I think this is a perfect example of just how the message of beauty has normalized sexuality for girls, communicating the importance of sexual attractiveness at any age. Abercrombie seems to be targeting girls at the age where, which this article confirmed, they are becoming susceptible to sexual gazes (pg 155) and also targets the time of a young woman understanding that she can use her body as “currency” to receive attention, praise, and self-worth (pg 158).

Do you think that this issue of padded swimwear for young girls would create as serious of a concern in non-western societies? Would it be considered a way to adhere to Western beauty in the minds of other cultures that constantly face pressure to westernize? Do you think Abercrombie specifically targets those looking to conform to a racial standard of whiteness through their advertisements?

-Andrea Abramson

Welcome to our class blog.  This is designed to be a space for community dialogue within our class, to post interesting articles, photos, videos and commentary related to the class. 

Young women from India as part of a
campaign to end violence against women for International Women's Day 2009.

Teachers from Oaxaca who traveled to Mexico City (at their own risk)
to protest government policies on education, June 2008. 
There were about 100 armed riot police watching them from the side.