Equal rights?

“Equal rights for women, equal rights for women”

We hear about protests and walks held all over the world to demand equal rights for women. The point to ponder over here is “rights equal to what?”. A logical answer that we hear is “rights equal to men” or that “men and women should have equal rights”. From this one thing is clear that women all over the world demand rights equal to men.

Here in Pakistan women are demanding equality in opportunity and representation in parliament, jobs etc etc. But when we say “equal rights for men and women” we also mean that men should have rights equal to women. Instead of going on a higher level to see if equal rights are being practiced lets keeps this discussion to what we see and experience in everyday life.

Scenario 1

A bank. Long queue. All men. And suddenly the door opens and a woman enters. Passing by the queue as if it was never there, she goes straight to the counter. The guy at the counter acts the same way and ignoring the long queue that has been there for hours he takes the bills from the lady and returns her the receipt. The people in the queue keep protesting but the guy at the counter calmly replies

“khatoon hain” (she was a woman)

Where did the equal rights and the demand for them go all of a sudden?! What about the people in the queue that have been standing there for hours? Wasn’t it their right to pay the bills first?

The same biased attitude is seen at all counters.

Scenario 2

Economics class in a university. The same old boring lecture being delivered by the teacher with full enthusiasm. As usual the students busy in their own stuff. The teacher notices a student teasing the other and the other punching him back. He screams at them and kicks them both out of the class. Five minutes later two girls of the same class discussing their crushes and giggling. The teacher ignores once. Twice. Thrice. And then…!!!

“beta, aise nai karain buri baat, shukriya!” (please don’t do this, thank you!)

Why?! Weren’t they supposed to be kicked out too for disturbing the class?! Where did the equal rights go?!

The same biased attitude can be observed at the start of the class when students come late.

Why do you think a teacher that treats both the genders equally is hated by women? Because these teachers don’t treat them like VIPs.

Scenario 3

A “Noori” concert. A hardcore fan hears of it and calls the given phone number to inquire about the tickets. The guy at the other end gives all the details and in the end states “this concert is only for GIRLS and couples”.

Wtf!!! “This concert is only for couples” is fair but where did the GIRLS come in from?! Are they some superior creature that a guy can’t enter the arena without being accompanied by one of them?!

Where did the equal rights go?!

The above three examples are only three of the many examples where men face injustice daily. Equal rights have to be established in daily life before being implemented on the level that women demand.

Do you see the catch here? Zip it where the women are being treated as VIPs and go out in protest wherever there is a chance to grab a little more of the favors.

I am sure you all have seen these “equal rights” protests. What do you see?

Women coming straight from beauty parlors to protest? Wearing those branded shades and arriving in driver driven cars? Carrying those 30k cell phones and afterwards going to Marriott to celebrate the success of the protest? What rights are they talking about? The right to leave their children alone at home while they go about attending these social gatherings labeled as “protests”? The right to leave their husbands at the mercy of servants for lunch?

I am sure a lot of you are thinking about the rights that women are deprived of. Let me state some of them for you.

1. Right to do work and earn willingly.

2. Right to education.

3. Right to go out with friends.

4. Right to be treated equally at the workplace.

5. Right to be not teased and followed.

These usually are the main demands in these protests, right?

The first three points are anyone’s private family problems. There are women and girls who study, who work and who go out with friends. If there is a restriction on your leaving home, discuss it at your place. Why road when you have your dad or brother at home to discuss these problems with? Do u go out protesting about your arguments at home? No!

The fourth point is pretty valid. But there is a reason for it. Can women stay at the office after their routine office hours? Can they stay at the office for night duties? No. So care is taken and they are assigned the jobs that they can afford to perform. The same reason goes for all the practical jobs which have a lower percentage of women.

Point five is also valid. There always are good and bad people in the society. Doing of one person can’t be put on all. But the major reason for it in my opinion is as follows. Simple. The more unique the thing, the more it attracts attention. The more women try to hide from the society, the more the society will chase them. Why is “Cinepax” the center of attention of the twin cities? Because it is the only cinema in 400 km radius! Get it?

Yet there are women who do jobs, then come home to serve their families. They themselves teach their children. They themselves do all the household chores. They manage all the grocery and even go to market to get them. Yet we don’t hear them talk about “being deprived of rights”. We just hear them talking about “doing their duties”. They don’t fancy going out for those social gathering labeled as “equality of rights protests”. They would rather spend time with their families and keep the family together. These women include my mom and your mom. These are the women who deserve a break. These are the women who deserve the right to be assisted. These are the women that truly deserve to be the recipients of all the rights and respect in the world.

I am sure many of you will disagree with the article. Your comments are welcome.