This spring, I was in Pakistan, traveling through the capital of Islamabad, the culture center of Lahore, and into the northern bustling towns of Abbottabad and Mansehra. As an American traveler, heading to Pakistan’s tribal areas might have been daunting if I didn’t have a car with young men I call brothers and bodyguards.
On this trip, I met mostly with women. Young and old, single and happily (or unhappily) married, secular and religious. All these women were working professionals with different ethnic and familial backgrounds.
Today, many girls in Pakistan aspire to be something more. They are doctors, politicians, journalists, teachers, television hosts and producers, fashion designers, models, writers, professors, social activists, and so much more. They are trained professionals. All these women believe in change. And they want to be a part of it.
All these women shared one stark truth.
Pakistan is a dangerous place for women to live and work who don’t have access to money, status, family support, and/or political backing. Absent these factors, women are simply status-less, powerless, and can be penniless.
Interviews with dozens of women confirm that Pakistan is still evolving. Some rules have changed–Fauzia Saeed’s twelve-year campaign to pass the country’s sexual harassment laws will allegedly enable women to work hassle-free. (Of course, even Saeed acknowledges that women and men have to know the laws in order to practice it. And many women, including farmers, don’t know they have rights.) After all, it’s still a man’s world–or country. Pakistan is patriarchal, patrilineal and packed with men who believe women are better caregivers, which explains why there is endless praise for the role of a mother, wife, sister, daughter.
And when women choose to work, they still needs the approval of the men in her family, community, or larger social-knit group.
Prestige and power
In her monstrous-mansion adorned with the riches of the world, an elected member of Pakistan’s Parliament from the northern town in Mansera admits she joined the election campaign with her husband’s blessing. “He supported my career throughout our marriage. First, I was a lawyer and practiced law, then I ran for election as an independent in the tribal belt,” she told me. In minutes, it became to me that her husband paved the way for her to pursue a political career. “After all, I married the Governor of Mansera!” she exclaimed.
A rising fashion designer in Lahore stands in a room packed with hand-made dresses. She presents each dress to me like a set of jewels. “This one is designed for a wedding and this one,” she says, as she swaps the fancy lace dress for a floral print, “you can wear this one to a tea party.”
Women know how to strive, struggle, and sacrifice. Some have persevered and pushed aside patriarchal structures to rise to the top.
Thank you for sharing.
