Wave of Feminism

Thesis Statement:

Pakistan saw its wave of feminism as the movements of # I Too took momentum. 95% of the victims of all four oppressions are women in Pakistan. Pakistan was ranked as the second-worst country for women in 2018. So, they caught on fire when the hints of fourth-wave feminism reached Pakistan. 

Qandeel Baloch case study:

A trendy case is that of the Qandeel Baloch. She was a model and social media activist who spoke of essential issues such as unequal treatment of women in the country and the hypocrisy that surrounded the society but was critiqued because of her bold style and statements. Qandeel Baluch met a tragic end as she became a victim of honor killing in 2016 at the hands of her brother. Even though she met a sad ending, she, in a sense, started a movement about defeating domestic violence as she was a survivor of domestic abuse at the hands of her husband. She inspired many documentaries. A high-profile case came up in Pakistan after a year of #metoo taking off in Hollywood.

Meesha Shafi case study:

Meesha Shafi, a popular figure in the entertainment industry of Pakistan, took to social media and accused fellow singer and actor Ali Zafar of sexual harassment and put the hashtag #metoo at the end of her ost. This accusation riled up the whole community, and many people started supporting Meesha Shafi, and many other women also retweeted her with the same hashtag.

However, the response to the movement in Pakistan was quite the opposite of what the answer had been in the west. Many people called out the actress for dressing up inappropriately and accused her of being shameless. Others went as far as calling her a degenerate and deviant of the Muslim faith. Regardless of the backlash and the legal verdict of the case, Meesha Shafi's tweet riled up the population. Many women took to the streets in the upcoming Aurat March, where banners that challenged the popular stereotypes against women caught a lot of attention on social media. The problem, however, has been that the attention these movements have gotten from the masses has been very negative. Many people claim that the fourth wave of feminism in Pakistan is an elitist idea and that the women who participate in this sort of activism are minimizing the actual problems that women in Pakistan.

So, the question which arises in everyone's mind is whether the movements of fourth-wave feminism have been successful in Pakistan. The answer to this question lies in the way success is defined. Suppose the extent of awareness establishes the success of these movements. If success is defined as the actual difference that these movements have been able to make in society regarding the sexual exploitation of women, then no, these movements. This polarization has somewhat made matters worse for the women in Pakistan.

 These movements have also led to Actual ideologies the western world has become a slightly safer world for women. In the east, these movements have been unable to make the same impact. They have been given the edge of an elitist phenomenon, even in some cases. People have labeled feminism as an anti-labeled phenomenon, and women who talk about freedom of choice are name-called. One of the main reasons that the reactions have been very different in the two parts o the world is because developing countries like Pakistan are just not ready to hear about workplace sexual harassment or roadside harassment. 

Pakistan is a country with a lack of women in the workforce because of cultural taboos about working women. How can a society discuss harassment in the workplace when more than 50% of the population believes that women should not be allowed to work in the first place? Then there is the issue of education; the literacy rate of women in Pakistan is less than 50% which means bat half of the women in the country are illiterate, which means that they are not even informed enough to realize that the catcalling that they experience on the streets is harassment. Thus, it is somehow true the women's movement in Pakistan is reduced to the elite class.it, however, does not mean that the actions of feminism should be discouraged in the country. Every change which comes from modernity first reaches the west and then trickles to the educated class of the underdeveloped east before finally reaching the masses, which means that the anti-harassment campaign will take a long time before it can become a national phenomenon and even more time to penetrate the ancient ideologies of the masses residing in Pakistan.

Conclusion:

Movements of fourth-wave feminism caught tremendous momentum after a massive scandal of a Hollywood giant was exposed. After making a big dent in how women were treated in the workplace and general, these movements also reached Pakistan. However, the response in Pakistan has not been as positive as in the United States. The problem lies in the chronology of the arrival. In the west, these movements have arrived after the right to education and equal opportunities for work for womens.