Life has always been a grim struggle for survival for women, they have struggled hard for their rights
LAHORE: Life has always been a grim struggle for survival for women. They have struggled hard for their rights. Although women have really worked hard to break the shackles tied around them in the name of norms, customs and sometimes religion, the situation hasn’t changed significantly enough.
The discrimination is not just of gender roles, but also of the differentiated treatment towards one in a society. Coming from a family where this difference never mattered, I got equal opportunities in life. But, in professional life, I felt this unseen barrier as soon as I got promoted into grade 18. During the interview for the same post in my parent department, my boss tried to influence the selection process by commenting, “She is very competent but she has a daughter.” I was shocked at this neglect for my dedication because in spite of having a daughter, I had spent even Eid holidays in office.
Hence, the glass ceiling theory in this context is “the unseen, yet unbreachable barrier that keeps minorities and women from rising to the upper rungs of the career ladder, regardless of their qualifications or achievements.”
Even promotion to a grade 18 officer was not a smooth sail. In a room with a table, two chairs and no computer, my request for auxiliary staff was also turned down. Despite a dedicated work period of five and a half years in my organisation, I had to struggle to make a niche for myself from the scratch. As in the words of Martin Luther King; “I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the colour of their skin, but by the content of their character.” I wish the same for my daughter that may she get to live in a country where she is only judged for her talent and abilities.
Lala Rukh
Published in The Express Tribune, November 7th, 2017.
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