The Arts Council of Pakistan has traditionally, like all other institutions in that country, been an all male affair.
So when it decided to organises a discussion in November 2019 on feminism called Feminism: The Other Perspective, it did what it has always done and invited only an all-male panel. Oh, they did have one token woman, discussion host Uzma al-Karim, whose name featured at the bottom of the promotional literature.
However what they forgot was that whilst many women may well still be tied to the home, in the land of the pure, they increasingly have access to social media, so very quickly, the original title, Feminism: The Other Perspective, drew much derision. "Should have just called it men's day" wrote one lady ... who added "Why did these men agree to participating?" .... others left similar comments.
The organisers tried to defend themselves said that the male 'decision-makers' were invited to share views on feminism, but many critics questioned why having an all-male panel to discuss feminism didn't seem the obvious way to tackle gender inequality in Pakistan.
The organisers gave in and two women speakers were added to the panel and the discussion was renamed Understanding Feminism.
The lesson from all this, isn't that very much will be done to respect women's rights or equality in Pakistan, or other similar countries who follow an overwhelmingly patriarchal societal system, but that the rise of social media has given women comparatively safe forums in which to voice their displeasure at the systems that have locked their voices out of public discourse for millennia.
Perhaps there will be some changes in those societies where male pomposity is easily pricked by ridicule if social media allows women a voice that can be heard.
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| Male Chauvinism Rules .... OK? |
So when it decided to organises a discussion in November 2019 on feminism called Feminism: The Other Perspective, it did what it has always done and invited only an all-male panel. Oh, they did have one token woman, discussion host Uzma al-Karim, whose name featured at the bottom of the promotional literature.
However what they forgot was that whilst many women may well still be tied to the home, in the land of the pure, they increasingly have access to social media, so very quickly, the original title, Feminism: The Other Perspective, drew much derision. "Should have just called it men's day" wrote one lady ... who added "Why did these men agree to participating?" .... others left similar comments.
The organisers tried to defend themselves said that the male 'decision-makers' were invited to share views on feminism, but many critics questioned why having an all-male panel to discuss feminism didn't seem the obvious way to tackle gender inequality in Pakistan.
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| Equality At Last? |
The organisers gave in and two women speakers were added to the panel and the discussion was renamed Understanding Feminism.
The lesson from all this, isn't that very much will be done to respect women's rights or equality in Pakistan, or other similar countries who follow an overwhelmingly patriarchal societal system, but that the rise of social media has given women comparatively safe forums in which to voice their displeasure at the systems that have locked their voices out of public discourse for millennia.
Perhaps there will be some changes in those societies where male pomposity is easily pricked by ridicule if social media allows women a voice that can be heard.
That last point about social media giving a voice to the disenfranchised is valid but equally it gives voices to the uglier sides of humanity such as Jihadi preachers.
ReplyDeleteYes it is a double edged sword as the #fakenews debate has shown. Thanks for the comment.
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