Tag: sexism

  • Juggun Kazim was harassed by fans for this reason

    Juggun Kazim was harassed by fans for this reason

    Actress Juggun Kazim was a guest on Momin Saqib’s show ‘Had Kar Di’ where she criticised Pakistani audiences for turning a blind eye to toxic love stories promoting violence and sexism towards women.

    The ‘Gunah’ actress said that she had once shared a picture on her Instagram where she was kissing her husband’s cheek. The picture got her severe backlash.

    “I couldn’t understand! This was four or five years ago. I said what is everyone’s problem? That’s my husband!”

    Juggun questioned why it is appropriate to display violence on television screens but controversy ignites when romance is shown.

    Drama channels profiting off of women’s misery is often discussed by public figures, including ‘Kuch Ankahi’ writer Syed Mohammad Ahmed. In a June appearance on ‘Mazaaq Raat’, he spoke at length about television channels prioritizing viewership ratings over honest storytelling.

  • Female journalist shares details of sexist encounter with singer Ali Azmat

    Female journalist shares details of sexist encounter with singer Ali Azmat

    A Twitter thread is gaining momentum where social media users share their memorable interactions with celebrities. Journalist Sabahat Zakariya joined in, sharing an anecdote about witnessing sexist behavior at a Junoon concert by former lead singer Ali Azmat. Sabahat wrote that during a concert held at a college, she recalled the ‘Sayonee’ singer coming up to her and asking “Are there any pretty girls out there?”

    “Helped arrange a Junoon concert at college. Was backstage a few minutes before it started when Ai Azmat asked me, ‘Are there any pretty girls out there?’ Didn’t know what to say, so a bit flabbergasted I said, ‘Waisi hee hayn jaisi saari larkiyaan hotee hayn…jaisi mayn hoon, jaisi hoti hayn’, and left. After the concert he walks up to me and says, ‘You were right, there weren’t any pretty girls out there.’”

    Several Twitter users expressed outrage at such sexist behavior by Ali Azmat, while another user shared how the singer had behaved at a school concert.

    “At least he deigned to speak to you. My society arranged a concert for him and he drunkenly came on stage, performed his set and staggered away not even trying to speak to the organisers who were waiting for him.”

    Responding to the original thread, a transgender activist said she had witnessed celebrities like Mahira Khan, Yasir Hussain blocking a protest held for the kidnapping of an elderly Khwaja Sira person in 2020.

    “When we were protesting for the kidnapping of an elderly Khwaja Sira person outside press club back in 2020 and these celebrities including Mahira Khan Yasir Hussain and even Sheema Kirmani accompanying them showed up, started their own protest 10 metres away from us over the motorway case, something that had been protested for at the same location just two days before that , told the lemonade vendor to move his cart out of their sight for a better photo frame for their PR stunt, told us we needed to wrap up and go home because it was their turn, took away all the media attention from our protest and blasted their protest on loud speakers while we were just there barehands without any microphones or equipment. It was disgusting and they never apologized for it even after we confronted them.”

  • Programs need to stop having sexist Khalil Ur Rehman as a guest after he insults yet another Pakistani woman

    Programs need to stop having sexist Khalil Ur Rehman as a guest after he insults yet another Pakistani woman

    It’s about time that television programs and producers stopped giving screen time and importance to sexist writer Khalil Ur Rehman Qamar, because it seems like he can’t stop spewing his misogyny everywhere he goes.

    We thought the entertainment industry had felt the ‘Mere Pass Tum Ho’ screenwriter had crossed all boundaries when he abused journalist Marvi Sirmad on live television for defending the slogan ‘Mera Jism Meri Marzi’, and then bashed actress Mahira Khan for criticising this horrifying display of violence. It was shocking that despite this, the screenwriter was invited back on public shows and wrote dramas for entertainment channels but like always- the industry knows the best way to capitalise and earn ratings is when women are made into punching bags.

    Now once more, we have the misfortune to bear witness to Mr Qamar’s disgusting rants towards women. The writer appeared as a guest on a show by 7 News Digital along with the winner of the Miss Pakistan 2022 competition Sana Hayat, where the pageant winner can be seen talking at length about the difficult realities Pakistani women must endure at workplaces in order to achieve success. Sana spoke about how women have to face all kinds of pressures from their families and society.

    When it was Mr Qamar’s turn to respond, he started by rudely saying that Sana might have had some bad experiences. When Sana tried to elaborate, he snapped, “Don’t interrupt me,” launching into a rant about how Sana is wrong when she says Pakistani women have it hard in the workplace. Khalil Ur Rehman said any person who gives their own personal experiences when discussing issues have poor knowledge of the world.

    Acknowledging that women are being exploited by the workplace, Qamar said men are also being exploited in some places.

    “For example in the private sector if a woman is determined that she will find work based on her merit then she will find work on that basis. But then they use other ways to find work, through which men lose their right to work.”

    “If women want equality,” the screen writer further drawled. “Then they should give up on the 33% quota they are offered and make everything on merit.”

    It’s shocking that in 2023, Khalil Ur Rehman Qamar is being invited on shows to dismantle and mansplain the very issues that women in Pakistan actively suffer from. Why is it necessary to get his opinion, a man, on the issues that women are dealing with? Even after witnessing him time and time again misbehave with actresses, make light of the growing issues of rape and violence against women in Pakistan, why do our channels constantly need to offer him a platform? On top of everything, it was disappointing to watch a female host partaking in this spectacle by humiliating her female guest this way. For her to dismantle the articulate explanation by Sana Hayat by inviting a man who is known for his misogynist rants just proves how television channels are aware that women’s misery= more money for them.

    Khalil Ur Rehman represents every toxic man in our society. His popularity that surged after the meltdown on live television is proof that what our audiences love is to watch a woman in misery. Our channels endorse his mediocre scripts that peddle the narrative that an ambitious woman is a toxic woman, and turn violence inflicted upon women into comedy relief because there’s nothing that fuels money and ratings more than capitalising on the pain and misery of other women- and Khalil Ur Rehman is nothing but a sum of everything that is wrong with Pakistani men.

    We could go on and on with the numerous examples of how brazingly unfiltered Mr Rehman continues to be when it comes to his open disregard towards women and their issues- but we’re tired of constantly writing the same think pieces over and over again. We’d honestly just ask entertainment channels to stop relying on Mr Qamar for your ratings, because we can see through your formulae. Relying on toxic narratives and gossip tabloids that turns women into scapegoats is no longer acceptable, and Khalil Ur Rehman Qamar owes Sana Hayat, and every other female public figure he’s publicly misbehaved with- an apology for his actions.

  • ‘Divorce is not a stigma, fix the drama scripts’: Ushna Shah

    ‘Divorce is not a stigma, fix the drama scripts’: Ushna Shah

    Actress Ushna Shah took to her Twitter account to condemn drama scripts for stigmatising divorced women- and treat the topic like a taboo. The actress reflected on her own upbringing with a divorced mother, who had worked three jobs to bring her up, and said she would like to be a part of stories that refuse to resort to toxic stereotypes:

    “Many scripts I work on perpetuate shame around divorce. While I can’t reshape the conventions of scriptwriting or opt for unemployment, I stand by a vision. As the child of a divorcee who hustled with three jobs to raise us, the stigma on divorced characters feels deeply personal. I’m eager to be part of a story that addresses the stigma of divorce and combats the shame of being single after, celebrating the journey to independence and joy. Convincing producers to back such a risqué script, which may face societal backlash, is very challenging.”

    Many users on Twitter shared the opinion, stating that they wanted a stop to narratives that actively discourage divorce.

  • Sharmila Tagore: not your typical saas and here’s proof from Kareena Kapoor

    Sharmila Tagore: not your typical saas and here’s proof from Kareena Kapoor

    Sharmila Tagore should share a page from her book on how to be an uplifting and generous saas to your newly wedded daughter-in-law, and maybe more women would want to get married.

    Kareena Kapoor was a guest on Express Ada where she spoke about her decision to marry actor Saif Ali Khan at the peak of her career. She opened up about people telling her she would be destroying her career.

    “Everyone was like, if you get married your career might be over and it would take a beating,” reports The Indian Express. “I was madly in love and I thought it is fine. If producers and directors would be like my career is over because I got married, then I think it’s maybe their loss. It’s a weird thing. I couldn’t believe it. I was like, ‘Okay, let’s see what happens.’ And I just did it.”

    The ‘K3G’ actress especially gave credit to her mother-in-law veteran actress Sharmila Tagore, whom she gushed about for giving her a lot of confidence when she needed it.

    “My mother-in-law also gave me a lot of confidence because she did amazing movies like Daag, Waqt and such beautiful films that she did after Saif was born. So she was like, ‘Don’t fall for the fact that producers won’t (cast you).’ She was like, ‘Challenge yourself, challenge them, and it will happen.’ And I was confident about it. I was just always worried about balancing my life in terms of how I would balance marriage. I was most concerned about that because I was like, ‘I do want to work’.”

    Kareena remained confident that she hadn’t given up her career, and was happy to witness how several other actors like Deepika Padukone and Alia Bhatt have gotten married at the peak of their careers, continuing to work afterwards.

    “I think it’s given a lot of girls confidence. Everybody started following suit and being a lot more confident. People earlier would not even talk about their relationships openly. There was a time when nobody wanted to be linked with anyone or the sight of having a relationship for a Bollywood actress was like, no.”

    Kareena also gave credit to Saif’s “relaxed” state of mind, emphasizing that he didn’t have any issues with the actress wanting to work after her marriage, crediting his upbringing in a family, “where women have always been at the forefront, be it his grandmother, his mother or his sisters.”

  • Madhuri Dixit was fired from a film for refusing to do this scene

    Madhuri Dixit was fired from a film for refusing to do this scene

    Bollywood queen Madhuri Dixit can pretty much call herself a legend with a storied career and dominance over the box office. But even an A-lister like Madhuri is not immune to sexist demands by film makers.

    Veteran director Tinnu Anand, who directed Madhuri Dixit in Shanakht (1989), has revealed how the actress was fired after she refused to take off her blouse for a scene. Tinnu told Radio Nasha that he had discussed the scene with Madhuri prior to the shot, and she had consented to doing it. This was the first shot of the film in which Amitabh Bachchan was suppose to be captured by villains, which is when Madhuri’s character comes out and says “Why are you attacking a man in chains when a woman is in front of you?”

    “I had narrated the entire sequence to Madhuri,” said the director. “And I told her that you have to remove your blouse and for the first time, we should see you in your bra. And I am not going to hide anything behind a haystack or anything. Because you are offering yourself to help a man who is trying to help you. So it is a very important situation and I want to shoot it on the first day. She said okay.”

    Tinnu recalled that on the first day of the shoot, everything was ready but Madhuri backed out from doing the scene. When the director went to visit her, the ‘Devdas’ actress said she had some reservations about the scene.

    “I said, ‘I’m sorry, you have to do this scene.’ She said, ‘No, I don’t want to.’ I said, ‘Okay, pack up, say goodbye to the film. I’ll cancel my shoot.”

    Afterwards, Madhuri’s secretary called up Anand and reassured him that the actress was willing to do the role. Madhuri came back five days later and completed the scene. However, afterwards the two didn’t work together on any film.

  • Actor Humaima Malick says ‘Aurat Card’ is easily used

    Actor Humaima Malick says ‘Aurat Card’ is easily used

    Is ‘Aurat Card’ even a thing now? Apparently actor Humaima Malick claims it is, implying that it helps women get away with causing trouble.

    The wife of the late controversial television host Amir Liaquat, Bushra Iqbal, was a guest on a recent podcast where she addressed her husband’s leaked video scandal. Bushra said that honour is not just important for a woman, but for a man as well.

     “Honour is not just a woman’s. A man has honour as well. Had this happened to a woman, the entire country would have been out on the street, burning things. But a woman had done this. Men and women are kept equal. God has not kept the level of punishment different in the Quran.”

    The videos were allegedly leaked by the late television host’s third wife Dania Shah, who claimed in May 2022 that she was several beaten and forced to make sexual videos to send to people abroad.

    Read more: Syeda Dania files for divorce from Aamir Liaquat, reveals he takes drugs and does domestic violence

    In the videos, Amir Liaquat could be seen in a compromising state, unclothed as he walks around a room.

    Dania Shah was arrested from her home in December 2022, and later released in 2023 after her lawyer argued that the phone number that had leaked the videos did not belong to the woman.

    Read more: Aamir Liaquat leaked video case: Dania Shah released on bail

    Actress Humaima Malick has backed Bushra Iqbal’s comment by sharing the clip where the widow speaks about honor, and in the caption of her Instagram stories she wrote: “Waqai Aurat Card is too easy, a man is also a human being.”

    We are completely in favor of Bushra Iqbal’s views that no person, whether man or a woman, should be publicly humiliated with their personal videos but Humaima Malick trying to claim that this only happened because the ‘Aurat Card’ exists is extremely disappointing, and proof of how easily women are bunched up in a whole as culprits to blame for the actions of a single person.

    There is no proof that the person responsible for the video leak was a woman. If the ‘Aurat Card’ did exist then more women, like Humaima Malick’s brother’s ex-wife Syeda Aliza, could have benefitted from such a thing as ‘Aurat Card’, because then she wouldn’t have had to suffer from domestic violence during her marriage to Feroze Khan, Humaima’s brother.

    Read more: Syeda Aliza shares heartbreaking evidence of Feroze Khan’s violent attacks on her, Celebrities react

    For an actor to publicly claim the ‘Aurat Card’ exists in a country like Pakistan, where more women are beaten, tortured by family members and very few cases are brought to the light, proves how little it takes to side against all women. Nothing is done for those who are consistently clamoring for justice. It’s incredibly dissapointing to witness such a sexist mindset among women.

  • Mariam Ansari is not okay with holier-than-thou comments on her pregnancy shoot

    Mariam Ansari is not okay with holier-than-thou comments on her pregnancy shoot

    Kuch behtar nahi hai apni zindagi mein karne kay liye than to think that a happy pregnant woman is doing something wrong with her life?

    Pakistanis are used to watching unhappy women both on screens and in their lives. When they watch a woman celebrating a pregnancy or being happy in her marriage, they see it as a sign that she needs to be reminded of how miserable life actually is.

    When actress Mariam Ansari shared pictures of her pregnancy shoot announcing the birth of her daughter, several commentators were overjoyed and congratulated the couple. Then there were those who thought qayamat has started early because a woman shared her baby bump on the internet.

    There were A LOT of absurd comments shaming the actress for sharing pictures of her baby bump, a normal thing every woman goes through. Like this one cynic wrote:

    “Allah ko kia muh Deko ge behn Kuch cheze prde mei ache lgte he tm log ku apna Deen khrb kr rhe ho behaye phla rhe ho kuch shrm kro Allah se dro.”

    Pregnancy is a natural, beautiful thing that happens to every woman, baji. Wo kya gunah kar rahi hai kay wo isko chupa kar rakhay?

    Mariam eventually responded with a video where she slammed the haters in a video, expressing her frustration at the unnecessary hate piled on to her for simply sharing pictures of her baby bump:

     “Oh my god, the amount of hate I have received on my pregnancy pictures just shows…what do I even say? What do I say?”

     “It’s my profile; my choice. I’ve even had my child. It’s my choice whatever I post. If you don’t like it, you shouldn’t follow me. I don’t understand, since when is being pregnant some sort of badtameezi or behayai. You too were born just like this, so what?”

    The actress also pointed out how hypocrtical Pakistani society was:

     “You’ll watch Katrina Kaif dance, you’ll ‘like’ Nora’s pictures. But if a Pakistani actress who is fully dressed reveals her pregnancy, then, ‘oh my god, Astaghfirullah.’ I mean, if you were really all that great and you saw someone was pregnant, you’d congratulate them; you’d send prayers their way.”

    Sending our prayers and congratulations to Mariam and her husband for their bundle of joy, and honestly we hope Pakistani society could learn some manners and stop poking their hypocritical noses into anyone’s business.

  • Moammar Rana’s wife says Nadir Ali responsible for comments made by her husband

    Moammar Rana’s wife says Nadir Ali responsible for comments made by her husband

    Lollywood A-lister Moammar Rana made headlines two days ago when a clip from his interview with controversial host Nadir Ali went viral. In the clip, Rana criticised Indian actress Priyanka Chopra’s looks, stating that crush on her ended after seeing her in real life.

    The comment was slammed by social media users for being degrading and sexist. The duo also called the actress a ‘maid’. Actress and television host Mathira slammed Nadir Ali in a post on her Instagram stories

    A user on X, formerly known as Twitter wrote:

    “Nadir Ali & his equally vile guest Moammar Rana made deeply offensive rac1st & elitist comments on @priyankachopra comparing her to a ‘maid’ owing to her complexion. Domestic workers are beautiful, Ms. Chopra is an achiever but the minds of these 2 failed men are HORRIBLY UGLY.”

    Now, the actor’s wife Mehnaz has stepped in to defend her husband in a lengthy statement on her Instagram stories, pointing out that it was the controversial Youtube host who had made the disgusting comments about the Indian actress, not her husband.

    “It’s not as big of a deal as much as people are making it, as usual. Moammar never commented on her skin tone/complexion as the host tried really hard to make him comment on that, simply saying he couldn’t recognise her as screen beauty is totally different. I don’t see any of our beloved Pakistanis speaking up against her comments on Pakistan and Kashmir while she’s a “human rights activist” as much as you guys are siding with her on this statement, Moammar simply couldn’t recognise her and honestly sharing his experience with the host about it, he’s not responsible for the hosts comments. it’s being taken out of context as you all can see the host was looking for a controversy and got one. Thanday hojayein, much love and peace??”

  • Controversial coach Raja Ziaul Haq taken down from YouTube

    Controversial coach Raja Ziaul Haq taken down from YouTube

    Controversial Youtuber Raja Ziaul Haq’s channel has been taken down by YouTube on Wednesday, putting a temporary halt on the rise of the speaker well known for spewing sexist and transphobic comments.

    On various occasions, Haq criticised Aurat March and Commissioner Nazimabad Hazim Bangwar for what he thought was promoting LGBTQ values in Pakistan.

    On his Instagram account, which has around 448000 followers, Raja said his team are unaware of why his channel was shut down and were appealing to Youtube.

    “Our YouTube channel has been taken down or terminated. We have appealed it. We are checking what were the reasons that led to this. Inshallah, we are hopeful it will be restored, but obviously, there is some work to do on our part.”

    In an older clip of a discussion on Aurat March, Raja Ziaul Haq alleged that the movement was not interested in uplifting the rights of women or educating the masses, but were more interested in gaining sexual liberation and removing Islam’s influence from Pakistan.

    In a 2021 clip, Raja slammed the movement for going against Islam, citing the placcard ‘Mera Jism Meri Marzi’ as a reason.

    He had then claimed in 2022 that the movement did not lend their support for the Muslim girl in India who protested against the anti-burkha law implemented across schools.

    He also slammed leading transgender activists in Pakistan for setting up ‘Scrap Fest’, claiming that they were starting Muslim Pride. However, speaking to The Current, organiser Urvah Khan confirmed the event was not LGBTQ exclusive, but was supporting performances by minority communities in Pakistan.

    Haq also lashed out at the Green Entertainment show ‘College Gate’ on his Youtube channel, ranting that it was promoting feminist agendas. However, the creators addressed the controversies in a conversation with Arab News, stating that their show was not anti Pakistani culture, but was about a group of friends who tackle issues like peer pressure, and how friendships promote good values within each other.