No Girls on the Roof: In low-income Lahore neighbourhoods, or mohallas, rooftops are synonymous with freedom, but only for boys. For girls, the ‘sky’, or rather, luxuries such as freedom, space, and possibility, remain off-limits, and the city is built to keep it that way. In many mohallas, rooftops are stitched into a fabric of exposure and surveillance of the entire neighbourhood, and her izzat depends on it. They’re usually designed with low walls with no enclosures, giving the neighbours the chance to peek in from all sides, and that makes a female presence on the roof not just visible but hyper-visible — her presence a statement, her laughter a threat to the khandan ki izzat, and her solitude in suspicion. The city cements this phenomenon, offering no design consideration for privacy. This serves as a constant yet bitter reminder that in Pakistan, freedom is often granted based on gender, and for girls, even the sky imposes limitations.
A View Reserved for Boys
As the sun sinks along the horizon, the city is buzzing with sounds of claps, loud shouts, hoots, cricket bats, and kite strings. These high-up places atop small, densely built houses are playgrounds for boys, but for most girls, they’re skylines they just can’t really place their hands on. Girls are barely permitted to step onto rooftops, not because the stairs are broken or the structure is dangerous, but because the view goes both ways. Mothers sternly warn, “Anyone can see you.” Neighbours will gossip; they’ll question your character and our dignity. A man might look. And so the door to the rooftop remains shut, without a single word uttered.
How Architecture Enforces Gender
In lower-class neighbourhoods, where every bit of space is being used up, rooftops shall be a neutral ground, open air to study, think, and breathe. However, because most roofs are exposed and interconnected, they create a sense of openness. They become zones of surveillance; walls are low, boundaries are blurred, and one rooftop leads to the other. For boys, such proximity is deemed as ‘freedom’; for girls, this becomes a risk. Families often insist that the girls’ “safety” requires them to stay indoors. But the structure itself, truncated brick, no privacy walls, open views, becomes a tool of restriction. This results in boys growing up frolicking under the open sky. Girls grow up, suppressed beneath ceilings.
The Culture of Control
In these neighbourhood mohallas, space isn’t just physical; it’s moral. A girl seen laughing on the rooftop can spark the word on the street. One look from a stranger, a whisper from the neighbour, and the family is dishonoured. Usually, the apprehension isn’t regarding what the girl might do but what others might think or say. The infamous concern ‘log kya kahenge’.
“I just wanted to go upstairs to read in the breeze,” says 17-year-old S, from Lahore’s Kot Lakhpat area. “But my aunt said, ‘What if the neighbor’s son sees you and tells someone?’ It’s like I was doing something wrong by existing.” The everyday policing of females is normalised to such a great extent that parents don’t question it, and girls end up internalising such concepts. And space ends up mirroring what the community believes a girl is worth or not.
Upstairs, Downstairs
However, this isn’t the case for everyone. In more affluent regions of Lahore, such as DHA, Model Town, or Gulberg, rooftops are lounges, cafés, and private gardens for women. Women in these areas do yoga, host movie nights, or book clubs on the rooftops. Anyhow, in low-income areas, rooftops remain home to male freedom and female absence. The main difference isn’t money but the freedom to be seen, without shame or consequences.
The Toll of Being Hidden
When denied rooftops, several girls grow up never feeling the wind sweep in their hair except behind grills or curtains. They reside in rooms with no windows, in houses packed with noise and people. There is no seclusion, no privacy, and no public presence. Over time, the impact shows. Girls learn to shrink. They speak less loudly. They ask for less. And they don’t expect the world to make space for them. Instead, they make space for themselves by compromising their rights. A girl who has never claimed her place on the rooftop is less likely to take charge in the classroom or the boardroom. As a result, they navigate their lives without basic confidence and courage, often hesitating to take action.
What Rooftops Really Mean
Rooftops are more than just architectural features. They are symbols. Rooftops serve as symbols of freedom and self-direction. When girls are denied that space, they are being denied visibility and physical autonomy. In a country where so much effort goes into “protecting” girls, too little goes into liberating them. This can be done by protecting their privacy while teaching them to express themselves and be visible. Letting girls onto rooftops won’t alter an issue as big and ingrained within our daily lives as patriarchy. But it’s a start. Start to foster an environment where everyone can live, breathe, and explore, inclusive of women.
A sky everyone deserves
Pakistan’s cities must be redesigned with women and girls in mind, not just their safety. We must stop designing and building spaces that punish female visibility and build ones that welcome it. Because the sky belongs to everyone, and every hand must leap onto the hope to touch it.
As a girl, I could really relate to this. The fact that even the sky feels out of reach shows how society limits our spaces. It makes me think how much freedom we lose not because of danger, but because of “what ill would people think of us’