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Dear sexist men, I don’t chant “Hala Madrid” to compete for your heart
I had never been much of a sports fan. My father loves cricket and whenever he watched it, I either watched it half-heartedly with him or just left the room. It never interested me like it interested...
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#MeToo: I am older, wiser and more determined than the little girl who was...
The first time it happened, I was seven. An imam in our neighbourhood mosque held me, taking my hand, wrapping my fingers (they were still tiny) around his genitals, then massaging it. I was so small I...
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Why are Iranian women protesting against the hijab now?
Religious freedom has been a pipe dream for years now, especially for women, who are subjected to male dominants in this society. A major portion of the woman population has embraced this situation as...
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The silence of the taboo: Why must I put my sanitary pads in a brown bag?
I was one of the most excited women in the newsroom when I heard Bollywood was making a movie tackling the taboo around menstruation called PadMan. As someone who detests censorship to the core, I...
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When charitable organisations don’t believe in only giving anymore and barter...
This year is definitely a year for women. At the start of 2018, the careers of Harvey Weinstein, Roger Ailes (now deceased), Bill O’Reilly, Bill Cosby and Kevin Spacey (although the allegations were...
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International Women’s Day: What if women started getting paid for household...
“So do you work or are you just a housewife?” I remember being asked this question many times by people I was meeting for the first time. I also remember asking other women the same insensitive...
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To the women of Pakistan: Get out there, march and reclaim your space!
For this year’s International Women’s Day, Pakistani women from Lahore, Karachi and Islamabad have decided to stick it out together, get out on the streets of their respective cities, and march to...
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Dear Pakistani women, a menstrual cup will not make you “lose your virginity”
Menstruation – the one time of the month that most girls and women dread. The number of visits to the bathroom increases, while the prospect of wearing white has never seemed more frightening. Home...
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“Dua karo iss dafa beta ho” – Is being a ‘beti’ really the curse it’s made...
Being the fourth daughter my parents were blessed with, I always used to ask them if they had ever wished I had been born a boy. I spent a lot of time wondering if, after having three girls, they were...
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When you don’t wear makeup to work and get asked, “beemar ho?”
I rarely wear makeup to work. Most days, I wear none. Not even BB cream, or eyeliner, or even a basic sort of lipstick. I don’t wear makeup, and I get asked about it, every single day. “Kya hua, kisi...
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With ‘Motorcycle Girl’ and #GirlsOnBikes, Pakistani women take a spin at...
Adnan Sarwar, the famed director cum musician of the biographical sports film Shah (2015), is back to mesmerise filmgoers with another biopic – Motorcycle Girl. This time, he dramatises the life of a...
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100 is a ‘century’, not a tournament!
Pink balls, day-night Tests, four-day Tests. I thought they liked to tinker with Test cricket only, but I couldn’t have been more wrong. A few months back, there was a 10-10 tournament in the UAE; not...
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The woman with hands of gold
I always gushed about how my Mother’s hands were beautiful; though, all wonder had ceased as I realised... Her hands tenderly held my vulnerable self as I opened my eyes in this big-bad world; her face...
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Given its stellar cast, Ocean’s 8 is not the masterpiece one would expect
While Hollywood has always been very fond of remakes and spinoffs, it has more recently developed a fascination with female-centred continuations of beloved cinematic adventures and established...
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Why our mosque culture needs to change: An open letter to Masjid Aunties
Dear Masjid Aunties, It’s common for you to undermine people who don’t meet your religious standards, especially in a place of worship. Converts get pulled out of prayer by the arm for not praying with...
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Can someone please stop Sheikh Rasheed from talking?
Can somebody stop Sheikh Rasheed Ahmad from spluttering venom, please? I am sure ‘somebody’ could positively do that! While social media is rife with news of Reham Khan’s book launching around...
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Jeez woman! Just take the compliment!
I remember the last time I met with a close female friend whom I hadn’t seen in a while. I greeted her with a warm smile and complimented her for being in great shape. Instead of accepting my...
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Smoking kills, but so does patriarchy
What is the duty of a good brown woman? For most of our society, it’s ‘upholding traditional values’ – whether it’s the ideal bahu (daughter-in-law) in most TV dramas, desirable conservatism in...
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The desire for change: A new Pakistan does not mean a better Pakistan
I began writing this in the morning after the 2018 Pakistani General Elections. This was my third time voting in an election, and my first time voting in Pakistan. On Election Day, I was moved. The...
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In the midst of all the tabdeeli in K-P, did Imran Khan forget about its women?
In June, Imran Khan, leader of Pakistan-Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and now set to be the country’s future prime minister, made a few uninformed statements on feminism. He said, “I disagree with the western...
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