Aurat March: In the present times, feminism has turned into an unpopular, inappropriate, and misunderstood idea. Zia’s Hudood Ordinance, which required four witnesses in a rape case for processing, brought feminism to the forefront in Pakistan. His anti-women ruling prompted women across all platforms to voice their opposition to it. Before the Aurat March, women would typically stand by feminism, at least in empty rooms if not in open gatherings. Although the situation has changed drastically since the emergence of Aurat March, famously attributed to Mera Jisam Meri Marzi, females now try to distance themselves from feminism altogether.
The agenda of feminism is seen deviating from its root cause, shifting from claims of equal rights to claims like ‘Agar dupatta itna pasand hai tu ankho py bhand lo.‘ This raises the question: what is feminism? Are the demands of women clad with sunglasses really representative of feminism? Do we really need feminism to safeguard the rights of our women?
Emmaline Soken Huberty writes, ‘Feminism started in the late 19th century.’ The first wave of feminism demanded the right to vote for women. Emmeline Pankhurst, through the WSPU (Women’s Social and Political Union), spearheaded militant suffragette campaigns for women’s right to vote. The second wave was inspired by the civil rights movement, thus demanding the revaluation of the traditional gender roles. Sarah Pruitt calls for the third wave of feminism to be more inclusive in the sense of race and gender. It encourages women to express their sexuality and individuality as they want. The fourth wave of feminism, the present day, as Pruitt says, is difficult to define. What makes it difficult to define in the context of Pakistan is the deviation from what actually is feminism. The feminism demanded by some of the liberal elite women does not truly encompass the struggles of the actually marginalised women. This mirrors the claim that Western feminism does not truly encompass the struggles of the women of third-world countries.
We can see many Brown and Black women taking a stand for the women who cannot relate to Western feminism. A Moroccan writer, Leila Abouzeid, in her book, Year of the Elephant, highlights the struggles of women for Moroccan independence. History time and again highlighted men striving for independence, men saving the world, and men sweating for the wellbeing of nations. History is his-story, patriarchal, ignoring the hardships of women for nations and generations. Similarly, Spivak specifically dug out the doings of women, in addition to peasants and other subjugated classes, for the independence of India, who were sidelined by both colonial discourses and male-orientated subaltern groups. Moreover, Alice Walker popularised the term “womanism” in the US, but Ogunyemi applied it in African contexts because they felt that white feminism did not capture the nuances of black women’s lives. Black women’s feminism is not based on hating men. It is a more holistic approach where men like Ngugi are equally striving for the empowerment of women.
Nonetheless, feminism is a fight against women’s oppression and women’s silencing. It demands acceptance and acknowledgement of women in social, political and cultural spheres of life. Considering all this, some Aurat March slogans, which are the most famous ones, risk overshadowing the actual structural issues. These slogans call for the western version of women, which is both unacceptable and inappropriate in the context of Pakistani society, which is deeply woven in religion and traditions. Roughly 35-40% of Pakistan’s population comprises working middle-class people who do not see themselves in these women asking for equal rights.
Rape cases, honour killings, unwillingness to educate women, violence, workplace harassment, unequal employment opportunities, forced marriages and child marriages are still the ‘big things’ in Pakistan. In this case, the demands made by the women of the Aurat March—to refrain from putting food on the table for their male family members, to avoid seeking permission from their father, brother, or husband, to not cover themselves, and to choose not to give birth—are simply inappropriate and vague. These demands overshadow the true oppression and divert the attention of society to petty issues.
In Pakistani society, feminism in the sense of freedom from men is not a priority. Rather, feminism that asks for women’s rights and salvation is a priority. The infamous demands made by the women of the Aurat March are not aligned with religious principles. Pakistan was formed on the basis of religion, and religion is a complete code of life. Islam empowers women in ways that no other Western ideology does. Thus, we as a society should demand the access to rights that Islam has given to women, and one should not expect a society to follow any Western philosophy if they are not following their religion. This is where all women unite because no one in their right mind would reject the empowerment that religion promises. In the truest sense, women do not demand equality but equity.
The recent rise in rape cases (the rape case of a disabled female child in Larkana reported by Geo News), honour killings (‘Women Killed for ‘Honour’ in Balochistan’s Jaffarabad’ reported by Dawn News), and domestic violence cases (‘Woman, assisted by her daughter and other relatives, murdered her pregnant daughter-in-law, dismembered her body, and disposed of the remains in a local drain’ reported by The Express Tribune) in Pakistan have put the safety and sentiments of all women at stake.
The feminist alliances are more powerful than ever as compared to previous years because women can see and understand their tools of exploitation, and they are actively engaging and talking against it. To be born in Pakistan as a woman is to have a fixed fate decided by the culture and elders. Women are now speaking against the injustices inflicted on them. The present Pakistani society is evidently exploding with cases of women’s oppression, but with the growing awareness, one can hope and pray for a promising future for women in Pakistan.