“My father told me ‘child, there is no son in this house, so you should wear these boy clothes’”: perspectives on gender norms, roles, and bacha posh among Afghan migrant women in Melbourne, Australia

OBJECTIVES: In Afghanistan, strong son preferences render women with lower social capital. A practice was created to overcome this gender bias, known as bacha posh, which literally translates to ‘dressing up as a boy’. This exploratory study aims to understand gender roles, identities, and experiences of Afghan women in order to understand why this cultural practice has arisen. DESIGN: Utilising a social constructivist approach, qualitative data was collected from Afghan migrant women in Melbourne, Australia, using semi-structured in-depth interviews (n=10) and a group discussion (n=1). The interviews were conducted in Dari, translated and transcribed to English and thematically analysed using NVivo 12. RESULTS: Key findings identified include the perception of an easy transition for girls to become and return from being bacha posh, community members knowing bacha posh are girls but concealing the truth to maintain family honour, and societal and familial son preferences playing a significant role in becoming bacha posh. Most participants perceived bacha posh to be an unnecessary practice, but understood that it may be an act of desperation forced upon them by the rigidity of Afghan society. CONCLUSIONS: This exploratory analysis makes an important contribution to understanding gender roles, identities and bacha posh in Afghanistan, and is the first qualitative study exploring how gender roles and norms in Afghanistan have led to the bacha posh phenomenon. Exploring how social and gender norms and son preferences contribute to the emergency of bacha posh is critical to understand challenges faced by this group, and how these power structures influence daily living.