@Octavia64
the article I linked is worth a read. Apparently raping boys isn’t seen as homosexual behaviour.
Extract -
On the contrary through his act, he is seen as a virile figure - emasculating the
inferior. In the end the act of male-male sexual penetration within a specific power dynamic not only demonstrates the penetrator’s hyper masculinity but adds to his prowess and prestige. Consequently, far from being treated as homosexuals, those Afghani men who employ boys for their sexual gratification or those who openly cohabit with their bachas or toy boys escape the categorization of homosexuality and thereby avoid persecution (as it is illegal in the Afghani context).
Furthermore, one ought to bear in mind that the essentialist sexual identity that is
heterosexual or homosexual is not clearly described or defined in the Afghani context.
Hence, it allows a man to marry a woman, have children, and at the same time cohabit with a boy sex slave. Hence, the prevalence of the Afghani (Pashtun) saying: “a wife is for procuring children and a bachha is for pleasure” (Everett, (2015a; Jones 2015). A bacha baz is a man wedded to two physical beings. The first one is his lawful wedded wife. The second one or ones are his sexual companion(s) belonging to the same sex as him. Unsurprisingly, often times one encounters a scenario where the wife ends up accepting the boy sex slaves as part
of the family (not that she has any choice in it) (Everett, 2015). Consequently, such
behaviour and practices “leave normative constructions of licit and illicit sexual behavior
unchallenged” (Dunne, 1998: 9).
After reading that article I do wonder if we are judging Afghanistan through a western lens. We assume Afghan men are sad to sell their children. We can’t imagine doing it. But are we judging from western perspective? Maybe they do not see their own children in the same way we see our (western) children.
Parents used to have huge families as they accepted some would die (in childhood or war or famine).
It is clear they do not see women the same as we see women in the West. Women are commodities. Maybe daughters are the same? In some cultures girl babies were left to die. Again I can’t imagine that but I am judging by my upbringing, values and beliefs.
I feel awful for the girls and women. The man - sadly I can imagine his tears were to get money into the country from sympathetic westerners. And after the BBC’s history on reporting and covering up pedo behaviour I don’t trust them at all.