Donning a turban to pick on workplace sexism/harassment, Gulalai generalised sexist practices as being a male trait
RAWALPINDI: Seems like former Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) member Ayesha Gulalai is in no mood to let the dust whirling around her accusations against the PTI party chief settle down any time soon — and, well she should not. It is good to see a woman setting precedents for other women to speak up against the wrongs in our society.
However, disappointingly the MNA too took a rather sexist approach to make her point. Donning a turban to pick up on the workplace sexism and harassment, Gulalai has generalised sexist practices as being a male trait. Whereas gender discrimination and chauvinism can come from fellow females too. In countries like Pakistan, where women’s empowerment is often confused as one gender’s domination over the other, it is even more important not to play such issues along political lines. Gulalai’s accusation against Imran Khan has left an impactful influence towards the need to address the issue of women’s harassment, despite the missing evidence she failed to present, which is why it is more than significant for her to tread this trail with much care.
In a male-dominated world, a woman does not need to don a socially gender specified attire to get her voice heard. This, if done, becomes equivalent to blurring the lines marking the difference of the workplace issues that women are most likely to face at the hands of their male counterparts.
Ammara Saif
Published in The Express Tribune, August 21st, 2017.
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