This year, the United Nations’ officially recognised theme for International Women’s Day was #EachforEqual. Its essence is that everyone can play a role in the creation of a gender-inclusive society via change in action, behaviour and mindset. Through collective individualism, we can help create a society that is conducive for all sexes and in which everyone can thrive. Globally, the debate about women empowerment is gaining traction with each passing year though there is still a lot to achieve in this arena.
Like many other states, International Women’s Day is also celebrated across Pakistan. Women do come out in the form of rallies to raise voice for females’ concerns and these rallies in major cities are collectively known as Aurat March. However, the pace with which global themes for women empowerment are moving forward, feminist discourse in Pakistan is hardly making any headway. Every time an incident triggers feminist discourse, it hardly stays in the mainstream objectively. Sometimes, it gets buried under the guise of religion. Sometimes, it gets buried under customs. Sometimes, it is demonised as a western agenda. Sometimes, it does not make its way because of our rich cultural traditions.
This time again, just as we are about to pledge to the world at large that we are will stand by you in the creation of a gender-inclusive society, Pakistani society currently seems highly polarised. This time, the context is different; actors are different; the debating point is different but thematically the issue is the same and the issue is whether a woman is a subject or an object.
The other day, in a talk show, the conversation between a senior writer and director Khalil-ur-Rehman and women rights activist Marvi Sarmad brought to a spotlight the face of society against which feminist discourse has been battling. With the former pitching its critique against “Mera Jism, Meri Marzi” (My body, My choice), which remained one of the slogans of Aurat March last year, under the cover of rich cultural traditions and the latter taking a stand for women’s fundamental right to have a choice, the debate came to a deadlock. To win the point, voices were raised to silence each other and such language was heard which we only hear in the streets. Who started? Who reacted? How should it have been? These are pertinent questions but currently delving into it can take us away from the issue at hand.
Once the video clip went viral, two broader strains of social backlash you can observe. On the one hand, there is this mainstream media who is demonising Khalil-ur-Rehman for being disrespectful towards the female panelist when he found his critique being challenged by constant interjections. Moreover, he is being castigated by feminist circles across the country for his unruly behavior and anti-feminist mentality.
On the other hand, if you just browse comments below each video clip of the program shared on social media, a lot of common Pakistanis are glorifying his act. They are paying tribute to him for taking a stand against Aurat March. They stand by his approach to consider women in the role of an object.
This polarisation is nothing new in Pakistan. Every time the society is faced with questions about women empowerment, it hardly can face it without polarisation. This is what we observed in the case studies of Qandeel Baloch, Malala Yousafzai and many other episodes like these. The predominant reason behind this polarised reception of feminist discourse is that we hardly have any space to talk about these issues inclusively. Because of having no exposure to nuanced debates in feminist discourse, the public reacts to any question regarding women empowerment with a severe backlash. The social narrative about women empowerment that feeds itself from a combination of customs and narrow understanding of religion is so strong that academic institutes, media and government’s efforts are hardly able to make any breakthrough in this regard.
Our academic institutes have also failed to create a genuine space for feminist discourse to thrive. The social conditioning of students is so strong that feminist discourse introduced to them in the form of texts without proper discussion platforms does not resonate with them and, thus even after going through co-education and getting graduated, their take on women empowerment is hardly different from the one pervasive in the society around them.
Pakistan still has a lot to do to achieve concrete results vis-à-vis women empowerment. Episodes like the current one though seemingly give a posture of polarised social outlook in its wake yet such episodes are blessings in disguise as well. They create a space for all those issues in our society that have become elephant in the room. The journey ahead does not seem rosy; however, this polarizing debate should go on and on. The more feminist discourse is challenged in Pakistan, the more chances are people will get its nuanced understanding.
Let us pledge on this International Women’s Day 2020 that we all in an individual capacity and in any possible way will contribute to a gender-inclusive society in Pakistan in which people of all sexes can live up to their full potential.
The writer teaches at University of Management & Technology and University of Central Punjab, Lahore. He is currently working as an editor at KENZ Advertising, Dubai