...I was just introduced-- verbally thank goodness --to the Afghan "alternative life style choice" of Man Love Thursdays. I had heard this bandied about infrequently, but thought it was just typical miltary gay bashing humor (Oh! The horrah!) brought about by two different cultures thrown together in uncomfortable circumstances. You know, where Middle Eastern men frequently hold hands in public, kiss each other on the cheek, stand very close to one another, that sort of thing.
But here in Afghanistan, the Pashtuns have a slightly different spin on the whole Islamic separation of the sexes thing. See, their Thursdays are like our Saturdays where you go out, raise a little hell, then head to the local mosque to beg Allah for forgiveness or whatever, maybe do a little head chopping off for a sacrifice or something.
Anyway, it is culturally acceptable for men to have sex with prepubescent boys and men up to the age of 29, which is when they become "men" as is considered the norm for them in terms of responsibilities and such. The guidleline is women are for reproduction, and boys are for fun. And it is usually done on Thursdays, hence the term "Man Love Thursday" where the joke goes, someone has to wear the dress-- the tradtional garb of a long shirt which extends down to the knees and loose pants underneath.
Like I said, I thought it was just fiction only to discover, no, homosexuality is rampant in Afghanistan, only to them it's not homosexuality because they aren't "men," just creatures with male organs and, apparently, pliable anuses. It's the whole in prison thing where dudes can cornhole some other dude but not be a **** because he was doing the deed, not taking it-- like THAT makes any sense. Only this is on a national scale.
Wow. Just... wow. Welcome to Islam, folks. That's the kind of perversity you get when you do the whole Muhammhed thing I guess.
Totem