Three years after his boss, the-then prime minister, had caused an outrage – both within the home and outside – after choosing to go after women’s clothing, PTI MNA Iqbal Faridi’s unexplainable decision to critique what a female representative of K-Electric wore to a parliamentary committee meeting brought on a hard-hitting deja vu. He found the time during a critical meeting held to discuss the most heated issue plaguing the country to pinpoint the need for dress code standards “in a respectable society” (thankfully, once the official had left).
Subsequently, he shared at great length a moral critique with the media sources, reinforcing the common public perception that women were expected to shoulder the burden of the entire “system, society and establishment,” speaking volumes about how, in his eyes, everything worth a look had been fixed. Whether sitting on opposition benches or otherwise, he was elected by the masses to perform a certain task. Yet, he chose to focus on something that bore no relevance to the agenda of the problems faced by the electorate.
The jury may be out on this, but to borrow words from Senator Sherry Rehman “Who made (him) a policeman of clothes?”
There’s little in the past to suggest that his party would pay heed to criticism from various quarters and question Mr Afridi over a regrettable show of his unprofessionalism, let alone make him apologise, or God forbid, issue him a notice. His actions pale in comparison to other instances of misogynistic behaviour by PTI Founder Imran Khan, instantaneously defended by his female lawmakers, as they tried to water down the sting of controversies by making unrelated and unverifiable claims about women’s empowerment.
The fact of the matter remains that a large number of Pakistani men still cannot stomach Pakistani women, their resilience, competence and undefeatable fire to shine through, come what may. When individuals, especially those in positions of power, make derogatory remarks based on gender or clothing choices, they create a toxic work environment, making the women feel marginalised, objectified, and undervalued.
He may not even realise it, but his words perpetuate harmful stereotypes that can cause the undoing of a decades-long illustrious career. It was reassuring to see politicians (not just women) from across the spectrum rise to denounce such inappropriate hindrance to gender equality, but lasting change can only occur if every one of them works on implementing stringent discipline protocols for their representatives to pause and reflect on the consequences of any damning tirade. *