Hidden World Of Girls

Col. Latifa Nabizada, the only female pilot in Afghanistan, flies her helicopter to some of the most dangerous parts of the country. Her 5-year-old daughter, Malalai, is often with her in the cockpit. Jonathan Levinson/for NPR hide caption

BooBoo (right) flashes a Playboys gang hand sign, 1993. Robert Yager hide caption

Mandy with her father (far left) and other relatives, on her recent trip back to China. Her parents think it's important for her to connect with her relatives, but she often feels like she doesn't have much to say around them. Courtesy of Mandy Lu hide caption

The "Buranovo Babushkas" watch video, for the first time, of two of their members appearing on Russia's Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? program. David Greene/NPR hide caption

A man carries his son at a Beijing park. China's one-child policy has been blamed for the current gender-imbalance in China, where sex-specific abortions remain common. Frederic J. Brown/AFP/Getty Images hide caption

Amira Al-Sharif photographs Matt Logan, a regular at Tompkins Square Park in New York City. Shereen Marisol Meraji/NPR hide caption

Military officials salute the casket of Gen. Vang Pao in Fresno, Calif. Lianne Milton for NPR hide caption

Noorain Khan committed to wearing the hijab when she was 8. She took it off when she was 20. John Poole/NPR hide caption

Haniya Aslam (left) and Zeb Bangash have won critical acclaim in Pakistan, where female musicians face challenges simply because they're women. Courtesy of Nida Rehman hide caption

People have long speculated about why girls love horses, according to Peggy Orenstein, author of Cinderella Ate My Daughter: Dispatches from the Front Lines of the New Girlie-Girl Culture. She says that by identifying with these dynamic, strong animals, girls are expressing their own power. Corbis hide caption

Magan's mother, Marcy Hebert, says Magan was interested in hunting before her brother was. Tamara Keith/NPR hide caption