Imran Khan is a man who sees the premiership firmly within reach. It is therefore most unfortunate that no one sent him the memo. The one cautioning men in positions of power to keep schtum when it comes to discussing feminism and motherhood.
The latest gaffe has seen the PTI chairman conclude that “western feminism has degraded the role of mothers”. What he means by this still remains rather unclear. Though there was mention of how children learn from their mothers; especially when it comes to the mother tongue.
Which may or may not be another way of saying that Kaptaan subscribes to the notion that a woman’s place is in the home; at least when children are in the need of primary caregivers. To say that this is an outdated notion is an understatement. Particularly as it appears to take as its premise the idea of a nuclear family whereby both parents are present and fully attendant. Yet here in Pakistan, as anywhere else, there is no one-size-fits-all.
Moreover, children can best learn from their mothers or any adult women in their lives what it means to respect women; be they homemakers or as they climb their way up the career ladder. For here in the 21st century, women are not restricted to either one or the other. The world has moved on due to the struggle of generations and generations of women who came before.
Equally regrettable, however, is the false demarcation between western feminism and ‘the other’. For this unnecessarily pits one group of women against another — when the endgame ought to be the same: equal rights. Or, rather, equality of opportunity between the sexes. But what Imran has unwittingly or otherwise reduced this to, is a conflicting narrative between women of the First World and those of the Global South.
And this has inevitably played out in the legitimate social media backlash against him. Meaning that what we have seen from certain quarters is the message that women in Europe, say, do not share the same struggle as Pakistani women given that the latter are fighting for fundamental rights. This is, of course true, for the majority. But such one-dimensional discourse conveniently circumvents the issue of class. Both here in Pakistan, where some feminists all too often speak for the rural poor. And in Europe, where working-class women increasingly find it difficult to feed themselves and their families.
The issue at hand is not, therefore, what kind of feminism different women believe in but, instead, a recognition that the patriarchy still needs to be smashed. And urgently so. For this global system of gendered injustice will continue to triumph for as long as women are held responsible for suffering at the hands of those who would first oppress them and then castigate them for trying to redress the balance.
All of which is an unwelcome distraction from the issue at hand. Namely, what will a Naya Pakistan look like for the women of this country? We sincerely hope it will be one where women are encouraged to fulfil their individual potential in whichever way they choose. *
