Has the devastating inflation triggered a social change in Pakistan?
Business
Women are more visible around you as they join the workforce
LAHORE (Raja Arsalan Khan) – Young women are more visible in Orange Line, Metro, feeder buses as well as bus stops and stations in the city during the morning and evening rush hours – unlike the past when they were mostly noticed only during morning and afternoon hours as they shuttled between their homes and educational institutions.
One can easily notice that this trend has expanded in recent times – after 2018 – and is still growing at an even more rapid rate with more and more women joining the workforce. The question is why?
If you discuss this issue with someone associated with the development sector, the response would be based upon and full of lofty NGO jargons like gender equality balance and more women completing their studies etc. However, the reality is something else which would be highlighted in a short while.
Hence, the question remains the same besides some related queries. How and why now? Which force induced the process? Has our society become more liberal, tolerant and progressive?
As far as the last question is concerned, the answer is a big NO with the narrative build all mediums of communication and expression from electronic to verbal being anti-human freedom. It is even more forcefully communicated when it comes to the women and their personal life. Our entire political leadership and opinion makers have become hostage to the fear as they too spread the same message directly or indirectly, intentionally or unintentionally.
So what has changed? It is inflation that is making even the traditional families to allow their daughters to start the market as a productive member of society. It means that this across-the-board phenomenon represents a massive social change.
Right now, life is very hard for the low-incoming groups and middle class. They can’t sustain with just one bread earner, thus becoming an active part of the historic moment which is more or less unnoticed.
It shouldn’t be a surprise because social change has always been produced by economic or political upheavals. And the unprecedented economic crisis being witnessed in Pakistan is proving to be a catalyst. Something positive coming out of a desperate situation.
The same working women – notwithstanding their social background – in the coming years will make their decisions independently. Obviously, it won’t be easy as no transformation has ever been smooth either at individual or societal or national level. But at least, the process has started.
According to a person working in industrial sector, gone are the days when it was difficult to find women to fill positions for a shift as dozens, if not hundreds, are waiting these days for an opportunity. Moreover, people have realised that everyone should be contributing to the family’s finances.
However, the fear in the eyes and movement of many of these women venturing out of their homes in the hope of a bright future is clear as they move while wearing gowns and headscarf simultaneously or using veils in the current unbearable humid weather when men use T-shirts without any hindrance.
It is because the way many men monitor them at the public places, thus reminding them of the social pressure. Who knows what they have had to face or are facing at the hands of their immediate and extended family members.
The doom and gloom we are in certainly doesn’t allow us to think positively. However, some sort of hope is necessary to survive. Pakistan needs a society where women are appreciated for their productive role, not reproductive capacities. This social change will expand and sustain if not stopped by force. That’s why a democratic system is the only panacea we have.
Some of you might have been angered by these views but just recall what is happening in Saudi Arabia which replicated the United Arab Emirates’ successful experiment. Economic and social progress can’t be separated. Those telling you otherwise are misguiding you.
