‘Women should not work’

How would you react when a woman who herself is working as the head of department at a state-run hospital abruptly says that women should not step out and take up work at all. I spoke to her over the phone to get her comments for a feature I was doing on whether women should work during pregnancy or not and if they do work, what sort of complications were they likely to suffer. As I shot my question, she categorically replied that let alone during pregnancy, women should just not work at all. Her answer left me stunned since she was herself sitting on a top position at an important organisation.

As I proceeded with the interview, I found her answers laced with hate against women. For example, she said that most women make pregnancy an excuse to avoid domestic chores. She further said that most women who come to hospitals are housewives and enjoy an easy life. I wondered how a woman who is coming to a public hospital would be enjoying an easy life since looking after a house and children, along with professional responsibilities, is a hard thing to do. Most women do domestic chores themselves around the house despite working full time because men do not take up their share of domestic chores.

I felt hurt by her words because I am a woman. The lady must have been in her fifties and must be a privileged woman who doesn’t know the problems of an ordinary woman in our society. It’s a pity that she was just bashing women and was blaming them for all the complications they develop during their pregnancies. She went on to say there is no such pregnancy complication in which a woman should be recommended 24-hour rest for months. She was wrong, of course, as I spoke to many other gynecologists who begged to differ. I failed to understand how a woman, with such good exposure and qualifications, could think like a misogynistic man.

Girls in Pakistan grow up listening to such things. Everyone suffers as a result — men, women, children.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 19^th, 2015.