God created man and woman not to subjugate each other but to love, care, share and help each other. He the Creator of this universe did His justice by giving equal qualities to both of them. He gave man a rough and tough physique while women were created with soft and delicate form. The difference of structures was meant to separate their genders and to make them feel good about each other. Unfortunately, the difference of being man and woman is taken wrong by many. Woman is always labelled as weak and inferior to men in one way or the other. Due to the general harsh behavior of society, women have been suffering in all periods and societies of the world.
With the passage of time some societies of the world gave women the liberty to choose whatever they deem appropriate for themselves. In this regard, western women have proven they can do anything men could. They are doctors, politicians, engineers, managers, pilots, wrestlers, and drivers etc. They are not that half of the population which could be considered a burden on society.
However, the liberty of free will that western women are enjoying today is based on their hard struggles in the past. Decades ago, in west too, Women rights were badly ignored as a result of which a vibrant women revolution took place. A small group of women gathered and decided to break the unjust social taboos. They raised their voices on every forum and demanded an end to senseless gender discrimination. This affected the conservative thinking of patriarchal society up to great extent and brought about major changes in the social and cultural landscape of western society.
On the other hand, different writers and researchers have highlighted the issue of gender discrimination in their own ways and have tried to explain the myths prevailing in our societies about the differences between sexes. JUDITH SARGENT MURRAY wrote the most systematic expression of a feminist position in 1779 (but not published until 1790). Her essay, “ON THE EQUALITY OF THE SEXES,” challenged the view that men had greater intellectual capacities than women. Instead she argued that whatever differences existed between the intelligence of men and women were the result of prejudice and discrimination that prevented women from sharing the full range of male privilege and experience. Murray championed the view that the “ORDER OF NATURE” demanded full equality between the sexes, but that male domination corrupted this principle. ELIZA WILKINSON of South Carolina explained in 1783, “I won’t have it thought that because we are the weaker sex as to bodily strength, we are capable of nothing more than domestic concerns. They won’t even allow us liberty of thought, and that is all I want.” (ushistory.org)
Having said all this, let us look at the condition of gender equality in Pakistan. Women in Pakistan are a reflection of their respective cultures and customs. They live in an appalling condition and gender equality is a far cry at the moment. The society of Pakistan is not purely Islamic because in most of the cases local customs and traditions are followed and take precedence over true Islamic injunctions. For example Swara, Karokari(honor killing), stopping women from education or job etc are not the teachings of Islam. Islam is a Deen that believes in equal rights of men and women. Sadly, religion is hardly followed when it comes to the rights of women.
Also, it is a general thought among men that they are the favorite beings of God, therefore, a woman is expected to obey and respect man because of his superiority over woman. While for others a woman is created for the happiness of man. Besides, women are criticized for having small brain size and such other statements are made to justify men’s dominance upon women. As a matter of fact, the difference of brain size has nothing to do with intelligence. It is not the size of brain that defines intelligence. Also, whatever the society’s thinking may be, there is nothing that stops us from having a relationship based on mutual respect.
Unfortunately, the lack of knowledge and less exposure is keeping women away from knowing their true worth. Similarly, it is the lack of true and unbiased education that has led men to form such gendered way of thinking. However, despite all this, a positive change is taking place and women seem much confident than ever. They are polling votes, contesting elections, and striving for better careers. The educated class of women have found different forums to unite against the gender discrimination. This is quite hopeful situation which will eradicate the injustice and inequality with women in Pakistani society.
