Pakistan

Stop shaming Ayyan!

Our moralities have already been contaminated with double standards

Alveena Abid March 27, 2015

As the news of supermodel Ayyan being arrested at the Islamabad airport for an apparent crime of money laundering, speculations pertaining to her character and professional career began to take a rise.

None of that sounded lenient. People trashed her with labels such as ‘corrupt’, hinting callously at her character. Wisecrack misogynistic comments were splashed around social media, tarnishing her reputation well beyond what she deserved for any misappropriation of money.

Owing to the gender typecasts that exist in our society, we can easily slam and slander women to whatever extent we like and get away with it. That’s just how our society has been conditioned. Even if we see a girl wearing a sleeveless shirt, we scapegoat her, whisper about her “background”, consider shaming her in a variety of respects to be absolutely kosher. It is not only a problem with the lower strata but even with some of the most educated people in our society. Many people, even those who have known Ayyan for some time, indulged in considerable character assassination over whatever happened at the Islamabad airport.

Looking at her thriving career of four years, Ayyan has modeled for prominent brands and has been one of the highest-paid models in the fashion industry of Pakistan. She ventured into singing in 2014. It might not be possible for one to earn that much amount of money in any of this profession. There might just be some crime involved on her part. But the sexual scapegoating of a woman, any woman, is always wrong no matter what kind of criminal she is.

But no, the moral police existing within our society are always ready to assassinate someone’s character based on their preconceived notions. It has seemed to become our favourite hobby in recent years. Be it a politician, cricketer or celebrity, no one will be spared. We forget about the matter at hand and plunge into people’s private lives with glee. But during this whole process we forget the fact that how we are portraying ourselves in front of the world. And then we conveniently blame others to judge us as a nation. For heaven’s sake, focus on your own life and play your role for Pakistan’s prosperity.

Our moralities have already been contaminated with double standards. Every individual needs to point out his shortcomings before passing judgments about others. It’s about time that we rise above and beyond these matters and stop relying on such people to be our ‘ambassadors’. It is time to be careful in gender sensitive conversations. It is time to cement new sensibilities.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 27^th, 2015.

COMMENTS (13)

Bilal | 9 years ago | Reply Get your facts straight before unleashing the feminist with in you. She committed a serious crime. And has a history of money laundering. No one is blaming her because she is a woman. I don't know why these feminists are so insecure all the time. And then they go around making statements like we are so empowered we are strong. What a joke.

FJ | 9 years ago | Reply Disagree with the author. Let's see her last year's tax returns? Is she a dutiful tax payer who declared this wealth & unfortunately wasn't aware of the foreign currency regulations? If that is indeed the case then she has my sympathies. Otherwise becoming rich & famous in Pakistan and then shipping off the wealth abroad deserves punishment. Worst if she acted as a mule for the brother of the ex-minister whose name is being whispered.

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Waqas | 9 years ago | Reply Its not about this beautiful model particularly, anyone would have made this mistake in PK which we all would agree has different rules for different classes, funny thing with Paki people is this that whenever they get a chance to discredit a privileged person they never leave a stone unturned, It would be very exciting to see the fall out. Fingers crossed. Best Wishes for Ayyan !

Moby | 9 years ago | Reply "Stop Shaming Pakistan" Which Ayyan has done, by breaching public's trust in her as a role model. Hopefully the role models in Pakistan understand that their corruption will not only destroys them but leaves a wrong message to thousands of their followers, also.

AP Carter | 9 years ago | Reply This is some pretty bad writing. It's unfortunate that you see this issue as a "Womens issue" - it's not that at all - it's a criminal investigation. I'm sorry, but when you're caught illegally transporting more cash than most people see in a lifetime, ASPERSIONS AS TO YOUR CHARACTER WILL BE BANDIED ABOUT. Don't do the crime if you can't do the time. I'm sure you're an intelligent woman and a good writer, but this is just terrible. I'm sure this comment won't be approved, as your feelings may get hurt, but this is the truth.

A. Khan | 9 years ago | Reply While I agree with the general article, I feel there is more to this case than meets the eye. Why would "supermodel" Ayyan take the risk of moving cash ? Why not use hawala or hundi system to move the money without any risk ? And the cash was apparently concealed in special compartments in the suitcases which makes it really suspicious. I have put quotes around supermodel as it seems you cannot mention Ayyan's name without qualifying it. After all, we all know at least a few Ayyans do you know in jail for money laundering.

Shahid Wafa | 9 years ago | Reply To highlight all double standards and pathetic behaviors of society mentioned in the article, writer should have come up with better example than Ayyan's.

Shahid Wafa | 9 years ago | Reply All the social behaviors pointed out in this article certainly exist in our society. But if one vice exists in the society it doesn't mean that we can relate it with any incident. Does it? Women are mistreated, misbehaved, suppressed, exploited and even brutalized in our country but does it mean that when a crime is committed by a woman, instead of taking it as a matter of violation of law we feel it our utmost duty to portray a "Scapegoated" image of her...!!!

Muhammad Ziad | 9 years ago | Reply Reading this article makes me wonder If it was an all women's world, would Ayyan be a model ?

Asad S | 9 years ago | Reply Jeez...don't make it a sexist thing.

Shahrez Qureshi | 9 years ago | Reply Stop defending her Ms. Social Justice Warrior. She is under spotlight because she is a celebrity and ahe has comitted the crime of money laundering. Her being a woman has nothing to do with it, so don't go on the path of speculative journalism and write something more productive.

Common-Sense | 9 years ago | Reply This article took longer to come out then I thought it would. After all, I knew it wouldn't be long before some female made this an issue of gender and female discrimination. This 'supermodel' committed a crime which she is being punished for. The fact that she is a woman has nothing to do with it. She is a 'celebrity', which is why there is so much attention given to what she has done. Don't try and make this a gender issue, which it is not. She deserves to be treated exactly like any other person, and if she gets VIP treatment in jail, it should be criticized on all platforms.

Naveed Sethi | 9 years ago | Reply I agree with you Ms. Abid.

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