Daily Times

The well-known march in New York in 1908, honouring the 1857 march by the sisters in the needle trades; according to a French historian and feminist activist Françoise Picq, never happened. There is another story that journalist turned Marxist politician, Clara Zetkin, as the Leader of the “Women’s Office” for the Social Democratic Party in Germany in 1910, tabled the idea of an International Women’s Day to press for woman’s’ demands. Irrespective of the correctness and accuracy of either of the two narratives, March 8th is celebrated globally as the International Women’s Day with the patronage of a number of powerful personalities and platforms. It is pitched as an utterance of gender equality.

For the Advocates of women rights this day is yet another expression of an unadulterated passion for an ongoing movement to achieve equality for women. For the adversaries especially those who can contractall generaof eerieideas by the mere word Feminism it is (in the mildest form) a fleeting fashion adopted at the expense of Donors’ funds with vested interests.

The IWD with its inherent controversies also arrives in Pakistan with an altogether unique set of hullabaloos. Even in the year 2020, it seems it is considered sageto spare time in determining and disputing whether it is safe, moral and justifiable for women to demand for equal opportunities.

The share of racism, sexism and ageism is greater for women who also bear a greater burden of diseases, poverty and honour.The discrimination and indignity withstood by the legend Katherine Johnson the “Black Mathematician”, at NASA, celebrated much later in the novel and movie “Hidden Figures”, activist -academic Dr. Angela Davis or the barriers broken by Jennifer Josephine Hosten, the first Black Miss World in 1970 and those who followed her steps later are no secrets. Distancing from “White supremacy” discourse have a look at the messes of theextraordinary white women. An apt example is that of Madonna, who always courted controversy but exposed with unmatched decorum her heart-rending lessons about ageing.

It is not only the show-biz industry that pesters women and use or abuse them as objects. Thiscatastrophe strikes everywhere including the social development sector. The only difference is that the casting couch of entertainment world is more visible and appears to many as matching the demands of their business.

Moral pedestals and principles are carved in human resource policies as the core values and competencies. However, the contrast and contradictions remain buried in the fear of unemployment, bad references, demotion, personal grudges and what not. The culture of winning at any cost rather than the desire to be successful through mere hard work only is the rule that works. A celebrity or a brand ambassador may attract rounds of applause for standing againstinequity, intolerance, rights violation of any sort but similar actions by a defenseless but skilled employee especially women are neither expected nor accepted.

Patriarchal consensus when merged with elitist consensus gives birth to newer and more muddled models of favoritisms and chauvinism. Consequently, patriarchy does not remain biological but solidifies as an ideological error

Patriarchal consensus when merged with elitist consensus gives birth to newer and more muddled models of favoritisms andchauvinism. Consequently, patriarchy does not remain biological but solidifies as an ideological error. World is a stage and we all are actors, knowingly or unknowingly. I know many men who brilliantly launched themselves as feminists.They are in fact only good crowd pullers and pro-women. I know many wonderful women who are recognized feminists.In reality they remain the slaves of class, power and entitlements.

Women who are not proficient in addressing deception, toxic and threatening behaviours are “losers” in the household affairs as well at the workplaces. Influential institutions including Ivy leagues tend to invest more on instructing negotiating and bargaining skills on evil rather than glorifying the truth and nurturing ethics. The world in spite of amazing advancement in technology looks worse than a boisterous jungle where only might is right and not vice versa.

One mustbe able to appreciate gains and look at the half full glass as well. However, in this urge to appear optimist and positive thinker one must not compromise on reality andveracity. Seasonalprojects, charity as a strategy for addressing health and livelihood challenges, mass weddings, women driving trucks and taxis under compulsion, ill-equipped shelters for the jobless men and women survivors of violence, hurried trainings , NGOs selling victims for short-term projects, choreographed activism and social media influencers always acts as effective diversions and temporary treatments for our country. One wonders how long such performances and practices would continue ?

In the spirit of sisterhood, all women must strengthen each other. Sincerity in solidarity must never bebanished. Endorsing abusive power, patriarchy including women-led patriarchy and loss of merit is not only a disservice to the overall cause of feminism but also to the interests of our national development.

Take a random sample of all high achievers among women in any discipline in Pakistan and one will find that a majority of such talented ones have a strong surname, push of the class and pull of triumphant networking with establishments who matter. With this actuality one wonders how a critical mass of ordinary women irrespective of their determination and talent can be genuinely enabled in a patriarchal system that shamelessly sanctions sycophancy and flattering?What Pakistan needs is an integration of nonelite women and all disadvantaged groups in decision making processes. Can power and economic elites of Pakistan decide not to act as the custodians of a deprived the majority and refrain from nepotism? Pakistan needs thinking minds, caring hearts and transformational not transactional leadership and policies.

The writer is an intersectional feminist