Recently an op-ed titled, “An open letter to feminists”  appeared in the Express Tribune.

Shall we recap the piece a bit, before we dive into it?

The writer ventured out to pinpoint all the reasons why men and women are (SPOILER ALERT) biologically and otherwise, dissimilar. She went on to talk about all the issues third world male population has to deal with on a daily basis and concluded with a very surprising discovery: Men and women can think for themselves.

Here is an excerpt of the article:

"In my opinion, feminism shames women. Feminism makes women weak." pic.twitter.com/xxh3eNg6ke

— Kala Kawa (@kaalakawaa) May 4, 2016

The author soldiered on, carrying the map to the holy grail with gems like:

And…the icing on the cake:

Now, let’s systematically negate what the author has penned down by what seems to be little, if any, understanding of the word “Feminism” and exercising intellectual capacity of a teaspoon.

The premise of feminism resides upon the fundamental doctrine of “equality” – it does not thrive upon the notion of one sex being superior over the other, a common misconception carried forward again and again. The fact that the writer states that feminism makes women weak relies upon the same presumption. Feminism is to define, establish, and achieve equal political, economic, personal, and social rights for women. The fact that the writer can pen down her two cents is all thanks to that very movement. Feminists advocate for the right to equal opportunities, education et al, for either gender. There is never a certain compromise.

Feminism does not service women, it also rejects patriarchy that expects unbelievably exalted expectations off men in a typical eastern society.

When a marginalized faction suffers, the way the lesser sex does, what with the recent PTI rally scandal and various rape/harassment issues, the populace owes women to spark a conversation. Stating focus over the “third world man” would be the same as not voicing one’s concern over the brother who murdered his sister for speaking to a boy over the phone. Madness ensued when the father ‘forgave’ his son for he had saved his ‘honor’.

No, let’s champion the third world man and not talk about how the boys with a golden spoon in their mouth should be aware of, and check, their privilege.

Responses over the article perfectly articulated our shock – such fluff pieces, with the intent to clickbaiting users into reading, with little, if any, coherence of thought, argument, research or understanding of the feminist movement are a disgrace to the publishing space of a prestigious organization.

Why, as a woman, would you be opposed to equal rights, is a question I often debate over. A person on the Pakistan Feminist Discussion group on Facebook rightfully noted:

The most misunderstood of all movements, feminism is always scrutinized and perhaps, always will be. But for someone to disagree without an iota of common sense, it’s humiliating to the movement – it perpetuates the problem. The writer is unaware of the massive irony in her own piece and the fact that a decent publication has allowed for such a piece to see digital print even more alarming.

As a side-note, this was pretty funny:

#UmniaShahidSongs Shot through the heart and you're too blame to not care about third world boys be dying too

— asad (@AsNr80) May 4, 2016

Cover Image via: Honor Diaries

Zarra ye bhee check karein:

This is What Happens if You’re A Feminist in Pakistan

13 Things All Girls Need to Stop Doing ASAP