Bacha Posh: A Cultural Practice in Afghanistan as Seen in Nadia Hashimi's The Pearl That Broke Its Shell: Resilience against Patriarchy

Seswita, Seswita

doi:10.4108/eai.30-8-2021.2316269

Cited by 1 publication

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“…By implication, women and girls in Afghan communities may perceive the niqab-wearing as equal to wearing face masks. Gender and cultural expectations of women and girls are enduring [ 30 , 31 , 32 , 33 , 34 ].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Regarding the niqab or hijab , we spotlight that the long-standing cultural, familial, and gender expectations of Afghan women are critical in discussing the wearing of facemasks due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Indeed, Afghanistan is a strongly patriarchal society [ 30 ]. So, differential cultural expectations of men and women in society generally socialize men and women distinctively as masculine and feminine individuals, e.g., prescribing distinct acceptable dress codes, according to feminist perspectives [ 32 , 33 , 34 , 35 ].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Hijab or Niqab Interacts with Facemasks Usage at Healthcare Settings in Kabul, Afghanistan: A Multi-Center Observational Study

et al. 2022

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Purpose: We aim to understand the extent of facemask usage resulting from the third wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in an Afghan context. In Afghanistan, new COVID-19 variants, low vaccination rates, political turmoil, and poverty interact not only with the third wave of the COVID-19 pandemic but also with facemask usage. Methods: We collected data (n = 1970) by visually observing the usage and type of facemasks used among visitors entering healthcare facilities in Kabul. We conducted an observational study observing the use of facemasks among 1279 men and 691 women. Results: While 71% of all participants adhered to wearing facemasks, 94% of these users wore surgical masks, and 86% wore all types of facemasks correctly. Interestingly, women adhered to wearing facemasks more than men. Specifically, of all the participants who were not wearing masks, 20% were men, and only 8% were women. Even though men were more in number in our study (64.9%), women have a higher adherence rate to wearing facemasks than men. Conclusions: We argue that gender socialization and expectations of women to wear the niqab or hijab interact with their adherence to wearing facemasks. Additionally, Afghanistan is an underrepresented social context. Since Afghanistan is one of the poorest countries in the world, which has witnessed a considerable period of political turmoil, we spotlight that our findings are rare in scholarship as they represent a distinct non-Western Islamic society with a low scale of COVID-19 vaccination. Therefore, more research is needed to assess the general population’s socioeconomic and geopolitical barriers to facemask use. Our findings are expected to aid health policymakers in developing novel prevention strategies for the country.

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