Out of respect or misogyny: Twitter divided into Team Zainab and Team Rizwan

Sports journalist Zainab Abbas and cricketer Muhammad Rizwan have divided Pakistani Twitter into two teams on grounds of gender equality and religious values. They recently made headlines when the former interviewed the latter during an event recognising the Pakistan cricket team’s hard work organised by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), where Abbas stood behind Rizwan after allegedly sensing his discomfort with facing the presenter.

Abbas was earlier lauded for her respectful attitude, however, the speculation regarding her intent opened up conversations about women having to leave their rightful spaces for men’s comfort, while the latter would perhaps not do the same.

Since Abbas and Rizwan have not given an official statement in this regard, a Twitter user even questioned if the former’s efforts were out of respect in the first place. “It could’ve been a camera angle issue but everyone jumped on a bandwagon after a piece of speculative news from a publication,” they wrote.

Discomfort or lack of control?
On how Rizwan’s discomfort shouldn’t be lauded, a Twitter user wrote, “Not looking at a woman while she’s addressing you isn’t respect. It shows that you’ve sexualised a woman to a point that you can’t even look at her. Stop disguising it as respect.”

The tweet was followed by many conversations. Some people bashed it as an “embarrassing” opinion stating how the cricketer’s lowered gaze does not make him a “misogynist villain.”

Glorifying women’s sacrifices
Another user on the micro-blogging site felt that the incident “glorified” a woman who “gave up her rightful place to prevent offending a man”.

They further said that it “pains” her to see Abbas “concede her space willingly” after working hard to be where she is.

Another user accused the ace cricketer of “using religion as an excuse to devoid women journalists from opportunities” and disguising agendas as discomfort.

Mutual respect
While there’s bickering and mixed reactions all over the micro-blogging site, some people were quick to point out that if Abbas or Rizwan felt misunderstood or misrepresented, they would’ve spoken about it. It can be a case of mutual respect and we should leave them alone.

As expected, memes also followed.