The age-old issue of women
empowerment can be studied and illustrated in terms of its dynamics in
multifarious walks of life, chief among them social, economic, national and
international. Confined to the context of Pakistan, the issue reminds us that
women have been mostly quasi-empowered at social and economic levels.
While the fifty percent of Pakistani women in urban areas are independent and
self-reliant, the remaining half of the population in all big cities, Karachi,
Lahore, Islamabad, Peshawar, Quetta and Faisalabad, have been dependent on their
male counterparts at almost all stages in life and hence are never free to make
choices of their own.
But this fifty percent of urban areas should not be taken as reflecting the real
picture of Pakistani society; almost ninety percent of the seventy percent
population of Pakistan, which is living in rural areas, are absolutely dependent
on men, and there cannot be a shred of idea of their living an independent life.
An extremely one-way view of our social attitude towards women has gone to the
extent of blaming that our men cast glance at women as an object to lure their
urge for sex, not as normal members of society. They cite the example of
notorious Hudood Ordinance that treats woman as such, and pins all blame on her
for any incident of sexual harassment, as serious as rape, adultery, zina, etc.
Social attitudes and economic factors interact to paint the picture of women's
plight in society. In matrimonial life woman is dependent on her husband, hence
cannot come out of his male-chauvinistic circle.
Presenting such examples as Benazir Bhutto as first woman prime minister in
Islamic world, participation of women in certain games, opening of women
colleges and universities, and rising ration of women working in offices do not
reflect real social attitude towards women.
The much rhetoric about Islamic teachings has little practical applications;
women are subservient to men, have been so and will remain so, that is the
dictation of our society.
The reserved seats in the National Assembly and all provincial assemblies are
little more than a ploy to reward the dear and near ones. No woman member
parliament elected on reserved seat has ever taken any initiative for
empowerment of her gender fellows.
However, the picture is not wholly bleak. The rising internationalization,
profusion of education and the ideas of women emancipation, and the way the
cyberspace, especially the Facebook, Youtube and Google have permeated in the
educated segment of our society, have contributed positively to women
empowerment at social and national levels, by positively modifying the
retrogressive mentality of men. Though Pakistan can develop into Europe and
America, it is expected to give good news for women over the time, keeping its
cultural identity intact.