Why is it that we belong to a culture where the colour of one’s skin determines who one is and what one is capable of?
KARACHI: I am a law graduate from London who recently returned to Pakistan. The first thing I did when I got back was to call my best friend. When she didn’t pick up I called some other friends to inquire about her. I found out that she was in the hospital for the day because she had collapsed in her bathroom. Her sugar level had dropped dangerously low and her body had given up on her. She had not been eating for the past week because a family had come over for her rishta and told her that she was ‘plump’. I was disappointed to see that a girl who had volunteered at various NGOs that fought for women’s rights had allowed someone to shatter her self-confidence and respect.
A few weeks later, I went to visit another friend of mine who had gone to see the dermatologist and had a strong allergic reaction to the cream he had recommended.
It was like I had returned to a land of insecurity where women were treated as visual objects, pretty things to look at with no depth and nothing else to offer. Why is it that we belong to a culture where the colour of one’s skin determines who one is and what one is capable of?
Today women are reaching for the moon. They are competing and excelling in every walk of life. Why are they still judged based on their physical appearance?
Maham Durrani
Published in The Express Tribune, September 22nd, 2010.
