I was a bit jaded when I heard about #Auratmarch2018 (Lahore).
And yes, I was thinking the same thing so many other people were thinking. A march full of feminists from the ‘elite class’ as we so often refer to them. What would it really achieve in practical terms? Was there a specific bill they were for or against, for example? Any specific, practical detail they were pressing on? A more interesting question is: why do we expect so much from women from a certain class? Aren’t they allowed to express their view of the world in a public manner? Do they have to save the world or be victims of horrific abuse before being taken seriously as ‘feminists’ ?
That said, I can also empathize with the other point of view.
Pakistan has been catching up on all kinds of global trends in the last decade. One of the recent ones is marketing-your-product-by-associating-it-with-a-cause. We have feminist designer lawns. Feminist actresses who weren’t feminist a year ago. Feminist skin products that tell us to be confident in our own skin. You could say that the #MeToo movement trending has lead to some interesting results. Marketers, for one, have realized they can trick women into buying stuff by making them feel good instead of bad. Perhaps that’s a kind of progress. Slogans like “I’m a fearless woman. Be fearless” are out of place for a lawn ad, but that’s what I heard recently on the radio. Still, smooth marketing campaigns don’t really do much to empower women or address serious issues. ‘Feminist’ lawn probably won’t alter the basic fabric of society; authentic feminism really does require more than that. It requires tough conversations as opposed to pleasant imagery. It’s the season of feminism now, but when the year comes to an end, the focus will shift to marketing products with wedding-related hype. You could be selling cooking oil, lawn, or shoes — too many ads will feature a bride or a family preparing for a wedding. Websites and magazines citing feminist slogans will suddenly be all about makeup, wedding dances etc. As I said, I was decidedly jaded — but I went to the march, to support a cause that I have always espoused, and really just to investigate. I was ready to judge. What I witnessed made me realize that this march isn’t just good press. It’s direly needed awareness.
So how about I show you a story instead of harping on?
You must have seen enough pictures of the posters by now, so I’ll show you some pictures of what I saw, as an aurat participating in the march.
One can see why people are more outraged for children than they are for women, but it’s all inextricably linked. Large households that rely on one man or only men to earn are obviously under a lot of financial strain. Working is considered a bit of a stigma for women from middle class or lower middle-class homes. In Pakistan, generally, women from the privileged upper classes work, or poor, uneducated women work.
Do you see a pattern?
If I exclude everyone participating in the march, everybody else on the street was male. Men. Boys. On the road, at corner shops, lounging around, drinking tea, working. The few women I saw were wearing burkas. There was one in hijab, and one in normal shalwar kameez. And then, there were the billboards with women’s faces damaged, or wiped out.
By the time the march was over, I realized that though the idea of feminism may seem very familiar to us, and we may bemoan ‘elite feminists’ and all they get up to, there is a dire need for creating awareness about women’s rights in our country. Marches like this create awareness at a mainstream level. They announce our presence. They communicate our thoughts outside our private, ‘elite’ bubbles. They make Pakistani feminism legitimate. Whatever #Auratmarch2018 may have been, it was definitely historic.
We’re on the radar, officially.
