In March 2018, a Women's March started in Karachi, Pakistan. The March had the main objective of saying "Apna Khana khud garam kro" (Warm your food yourself). This march was started by women of Pakistan and joined by lots of feminist women and men too but at the same time, lots of people objected to the point of saying warm your food yourself to men.
It is the primary duty of a woman to care about her family and children, and a man to provide them the things they need to live. So how can a woman come up with an objective demanding Man to warm his food on his own? If the primary duties are already defined so is it true women are hiding their laziness behind empowerment?
What is empowerment?
Empowerment entails the provision of sufficient rights for individuals to lead a fulfilling life, encompassing fundamental entitlements such as the right to express oneself, access to education, freedom, and other basic rights. It enables individuals to own and sell property, pursue employment, and make decisions about their professional engagement based on personal preferences.
A question arises, Are women not empowered?
It's not the 18th century when a woman was not allowed to go out and study, she was not allowed to vote, she was not allowed to own property, she wouldn't have any rights towards her children, and her father or husband was her master or she is just a subservient.
It's already the 21st century and women are already out of their shells. They have changed lots of things till now, they already won lots of things they found missing in their empowerment and today's women are empowered they have all the basic rights they need.
Then why do people talk about Women's empowerment?
Yes, this question is still a matter to highlight if women are already empowered then why people are still highlighting the same topic again?
There are some reasons why women won't call themselves empowered,
Firstly, They won't get equal opportunities for studies as men do, there are some areas that one can call male-dominant areas where women won't get proper attention and rights but not all areas are the same. Here are some averages of reports of students attending the popular universities of the world. There are just slight differences between both averages not much but it defines that women are getting fewer opportunities than a man.
Secondly, the basic thing people highlight in women's empowerment is the salary or wages they get after working in the same position as the man is working respectively low. The main reason behind the low wages of females against a man is that women are not able to work as hard as men because she has other responsibilities like their family kids and other things that affect their working potential and their credibility. Moreover, most women work because they are facing a financial crisis and they want jobs at any cost that's why they agree to do that job for low wages. Here is a chart that shows that there is a pay gap between males and females in different jobs.
- Thirdly, the violence and harassment women face at work, at universities and in markets are affecting their freedom and limiting empowerment. Yes, one can say that women seduce men by wearing verge clothes but whatever the circumstances are their lives get bound because of that harassment.
My personal experience regarding women's empowerment
Pakistan is an Islamic country where people usually say they treat their women as queens. Yes, somehow it is true Islam treats women as a queen but there are some people too who never treat their women as queens even though they never gave them basic rights. I recently met a girl who shifted into my neighbours a few months ago, she had great skills in crafts and I'm an artist too that's why we became good friends in a short time and she usually shares her problems with me, she joined the same university as mine. Once she told me that my brothers don't want to pay for my education that's why I don't think I'll continue studying after my father's death who is ill these days. I'm a little clumsy and immature people sometimes say, but I tried my best to help her with her financial independence by helping her to sell her crafts in university. I talked to some society managers and some teachers to take the initiative for the financial empowerment of students, and we started a new society named Student Empowerment Society. This society allows students to sell their crafts and artworks inside the boundaries of our university and helps them to be empowered.
This post is my entry for ladies of Hive contest by 