PBS special on Dancing Boys

I realize this is not LOS specific but will be of interest to many readers. Public Broadcasting System in the US is releasing a documentary titled the Dancing Boys of Afghanistan next week. It's an inside look at how the wealthy men of that country lead second lives keeping, buying, trading and loving young men. It will be released April 20 showing across the US at 9:00PM. Check your listing as in Alaska it is showing at 8:00PM. I presume the full one or two hour program will also be available on line.

If you go to this website: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/dancingboys/ you can view a preview. If so, after viewing Preview, which is short, click the box to the right titled "Exerpt: The Dancing Boys" It's a more detailed preview of a very handsome young man performing.

Normally PBS can be trusted to be objective in its reporting. However, I can't imagine how it will be received by our many moralistic bible thumping right wing radicals. Perhaps the backlash will help get us out of the country sooner and leave the war behind us.

It was on Aussie tv a few months ago. Ugly boys if you ask me. Another attack on us homos I think. If you have an all male society like prison youll get homo behavior. Afghanistan is like that coz all their women are in those purdah outfits so all that guys can do is look at other guys and spend all their time with them. Like the Catholic bloke who says that homos and pedos are the same thing. Thats what the documentary says too.

I realize this is not LOS specific but will be of interest to many readers. Public Broadcasting System in the US is releasing a documentary titled the Dancing Boys of Afghanistan next week. It's an inside look at how the wealthy men of that country lead second lives keeping, buying, trading and loving young men. .

One of the UK broadcasters did a similar documentary on this subject a couple of years ago which looked at the trading of young (under 16) boys by various warlords and tribal chiefs.

The filmmakers seemed to be able to film and interview freely and without any apparent restrictions. The interviews with the 'owners' of the boys and the traders who arranged for their buying and selling painted a chilling picture as the practice seemed to be totally acceptable and that buying children as young as 9 for dancing and/or sex appeared to be part of a normal way of life.

There was a subsequent film in the series about the plight of children in Iraq where the same practice of 'owning' children by both the warlords and local officials as well as their sale to some of the American soldiers was shown and again appeared to be perfectly acceptable to the local populace.

Does anyone know where to find a cheap ticket to Afghanistan?

The programme is due for transmission in the UK on channel More 4 at 10pm on Tuesday 20 April. The advertising preview looked very interesting.

Its nothing new, even a few years ago some NGO were in Big Trouble for having sex with the Boys, I understand the truck drivers also share the bOys around at truck stops, they must be interesting, Many are very big boys, I hear and hairless, till they are older.

Shame this link does not work in Thailand> :dontknow:

[Beachlover]

Sounds like a raw deal for the boys.

[allieb]

Does anyone know where to find a cheap ticket to Afghanistan?


Join The Army

[Beachlover]

I saw a preview on this... Man, these Muslims are pretty wound tight with sexual oppression aren't they?

The pimp (a respectable businessman by day) is helping the boy put on his bells and jewellery and says, "you'll take their breath away... you'll make me want to lose control!"

[jimnbkk]

I watched the program last night. It was on PBS here on a show called Frontline.

It was interesting. The boys are rented or purchased from their very poor families by powerful warlords or mujahadeen (sp?) soldiers in exchange for providing for the families at some level. The boys are sent to a 'trainer' who teaches them how to dance and sing. They then provide the entertainment for parties of all men. The two or three parties that were filmed in the documentary showed fairly large audiences of men sitting on the floor of the venue and watching a young (maybe 14 year old) boy dance wearing women's clothing. The audience is shown smoking, drinking ( I suppose) tea, and generally speaking did not all appear to be having a whole lot of fun.

Editorial opinion: We must remember that these are muslims. The women in Afghanistan are required to wear burquas in public; men generally are not allowed to see muslim women out of a burqua in public. So, pretty younger boys are used. Similarly, women who become prostitutes are subject to being stoned to death, so if there are such women, they maybe wouldn't like to advertise by dancing in front of a large audience of muslim men. So, boys. They're cute (to another Afghan, not to me). They're trained to be available. They're cruely exploited for sure.

The program showed a bigshot (why he ever let himself be filmed is totally beyond my ability to explain) 'buying' a young (9 or so) boy from his family. The kid did not know what he was getting into. He was trained to dance and sing. At some later time, the bigshot (cameraman in tow again) took the boy back to his family for a visit. The kid had changed dramatically; he would not hold hands or sit by the bigshot. The assumption is that said bigshot tried to put the make on the kid, and the kid now realized what he was in for. Anyway, long story made short, the documentary filmmaker got the kid and his father moved secretly to another part of Afghanistan, where they presumably live happily ever after.

An interesting program. I have never wanted to visit Afghanistan before. Now I am sure I don't want to visit that place.

I also watched the program on Frontline and thought it was one of the least insightful programs they have done. There did not seem to be any purpose or conclusion for the viewer. It seemed like they got some film footage they thought would be titallating and sold it to Frontline. How many centuries have similar things occurred? I did not find it the least bit educational, especially the implications that peds are equivalent to being gay. I just did not find it that interesting.