What women want? By Maria Patel

Whether a woman lives in urban society or comes from a rural background, she is beleaguered while she is out of her house. The security of women is a big issue, including of course sexual harassment, while she is travelling in a bus or any other public transport. Shopping or working, she can be harassed by a scrutinising glare, touch or a pinch.

While discussing feminine social issues with one of the penguin militants of Jamia Hafsa, a woman aggressively added: “It is most probably because of the frustration prevailing in our society.” But the question is, frustration for and out of what? “Women’s presentation in the media as sex objects and commodities and the treatment of women in our daily lives as a subservient source of gratification is what our society is actually practising. Those who are charmed by the woman on a roadside hoarding, wearing a pair of jeans, fail to actually grant respect to other women and take them as a commodity,” the woman argued.

The fact that women are used as a commodity cannot be overlooked. The media, which is owned by our conventional and conformist patriarchal society, promotes the use of non-stereotypical images of women by bringing them forth to actually sell their businesses. Yet, the hoardings projecting women are not an excuse for men’s sexual frustration which may lead to rape. There is no way of justifying rapes of immature girls by a group of 5-11 people (take the recent case of a nine-year old girl gang-raped by a group of 11 men in Lahore). These are definitely ways of trying to de-criminalise behaviour which is absolutely intolerable.

But then there comes the question why a woman decorates herself so much? Why does she dress up in a seditious manner? The New World Order supported the abuse of women by entrepreneurial mechanisms. The will, confidence and courage of women were dabbed. As a result, women developed social insecurity among them. Consequently, women started acting as commodity by decorating themselves with trinkets and cosmetics, just to fit in society. Hardly any woman dresses up to look good for herself. She wants to do it for a society she lives in. All this makes the urban social setup somehow gender-friendly and works to discard stereotypical images of men and women through media and advertisements and the frequent use of derogatory language by the urban women.

Being an Islamic Republic and having a society which is dominated by the bourgeoisie class, the female derogatory social exposure was widely felt but no one except Jamia Hafsa reacted to it in the meekest of manners. They voiced all these concerns with aggression and by the use of their violent penguin militant. From Children’s Library to the brothel house they “take care” of every place and person in a very “humanistic” way.

And it is not long since our tourism minister Nilofar Bakhtiyar suffered from the Islamic feministic hoot. Lal Masjid issued a decree of “punish and sack” for Nilofar Bakhtiyar being snapped in an “obscene manner” with the paragliders of Paris. Look how caring they are as they take each of the women as their sisters and mothers and condemn if they are seen socially with non-bearded men. All the women “in power” instantly reacted to it as they took it as a threat against women liberation. All of them said that Lal Masjid is no authority to issue such decree. Whether take the case of Zille Huma or Nilofar Bakhtiyar, these sorts of reactions from “the ecclesiastics” are indeed reprehensible. Indeed, it is formidable to lose the seat if not the life.

I was wondering what will be the scenario if the sharia is enforced in future. Who and what would be the most affected? Instead of HSY, JJ would become the brand to buy (after all he is a bearded brand). “Black Niqab Affairs” will take over the charge of “Black Tie Affairs”, and the latest penguin clothes will be designed in a way that there would be an open lit around mouth for the munching of chips or licking of ice cream so that the advertising business does not end up in boxes. And the latest scuttlebutt to the news is that all the shoppers of Zamzama Boulevard, MM Alam Road and Jinnah Market are thinking of re-doing their wardrobes with “Black Cloaks” before the penguin seminary students take action nationwide.

However, aggression brings demarcation and that is what is happening these days. It is true that one cannot ignore the issue of women’s security and their move towards materialism and commercialisation is rampant. Similar is the women’s exposure in our growing advertisement market. On a more serious note, the dirty game of politics (similar to the dirty game of cricket) is being played in the name of religion. It is heart-breaking to see the exploitation and interference of someone in matters as personal as religion.

The writer is a Karachi-based freelance feature writer

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Time is like a river.
You cannot touch the same water twice,
because the flow that has passed will never pass again.
Enjoy every moment of life.

I have learnt silence from the talkative, toleration from the intolerant, and kindness from the unkind; yet strange, I am ungrateful to these teachers.