Peace, not war . Love , not hate .

A peek inside the artistic world of the youth who expressed their concern about peace aesthetically through their paintings. The participants were students at one of the prestigious universities in Lahore. Lets stand united in countering intolerance and reinstating peace , every way and in every capacity we can !   

The fate of Anarkali

The Eden and its roses imagined a hue, a hue that was to color the souls it would capture… soon. Nobody knew … but the ants…and the ants crawled empty walls leaving a trail of ash grey mysticism everywhere they went…pain was felt, pain was felt not. Joy was felt, Joy was felt not. It was not for her, nor was it for him; it was just what it was and precisely just that. Fate had some other plans though, souls be parted it pronounced. Destiny, however, had its own way; he had to taste freedom while she had to embrace death and yet it seemed… quite too often… that she had never existed ,at all !

Revisiting the fate of Anarkali however, and imploring his faith in love, he saw the truth. 

Anakrali and the prince loved each other but a society that claimed to believe in peace was ironically intolerant towards love, so much so that it preferred materialism over love and Anarkali paid the price. Love cost her death while the prince got weighed against the gold in his palace where his father became the god who wanted to decide the fate of Anarkali and his son himself. Such a society that fails to appreciate the true feelings of love and humanity is bound to collapse. The walls might remain and so might the sound and the wind that carry secrets secretly, but love and humanity once lost from a heart will never take its toll again. 

Rise Pakistan !

Intolerance seems to be Pakistan's biggest challenge today. Pakistan is plagued with the menace of Intolerance which seems to be the root cause of most of its social issues ranging from terrorism, violence, gender exploitation, human rights violation, sectarian conflicts, negative stereotypes and hatred against different nationalities, castes, and religion. A country like Pakistan which is full of natural resources, populous youth, and socio cultural diversity, will progress and socially develop only if it gets rid of an intolerant mindset, rigid negative perceptions and bigotry. In order to fight against intolerance, it is necessary to channelize the energies of the youth in the right direction which will set forth personal intellectual development as well as eventually social development in a positive direction at a macro level. Although this would be a long term objective but a spark of volunteerism, awareness and education among the youth could motivate them to become active citizens of Pakistan. The youth makes up about 70 % of the total population of Pakistan, it is therefore necessary to educate them so that their collective efforts could impact the Pakistani society in more positive ways.

IREX and the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs USA actively engages Fulbright and Global Ugrad scholarship alumni from Pakistan and across the globe in social work projects that are aimed at bringing positive social changes in the community or society. While co coordinating one such project in Lahore , Project Smile, an effort was made to counter intolerance in the region. Although the project originally started solely as a project smile activity but after reflecting upon the gravity of the issue of intolerance in Pakistan , the activity has been expanded to continue countering this menace through various educational programs and social awareness activities. The participants were first educated and counseled and were then engaged in policy making dialogue and debate which was followed by an activity that required them to express their feelings and opinions through various artistic means such as through story writing, photography, painting, documentary, singing, poetry or simply by writing a word or a sentence that expressed their concern. People from a diverse range of socio cultural backgrounds participated in this project; students, parents, teachers and professionals from various age groups and backgrounds participated actively.  Here is a glance at some of the participant’s work

 

How girls become girls

Ever wondered how children become girls and boys? Why girl's toys in the toy shop are tinted pink and boys' toys painted blue? Ever noticed how we socialize our children to become girls and boys ?

Gender stereotypes are so inextricably embedded in our social structures that even the official curriculum seems to reinforce them. This reinforcement exacerbates the issue of gender stereotyping further and the cycle goes on. It could be surmised that the self fulfilling prophecy of a male chauvinist in a patriarchal society intentionally keeps the cycle going. Not just in Pakistan, the issue of gender exploitation and stereotyping exists around the globe. Take a closer look at the Disney princesses in Disney movies and the barbie dolls our children watch and play with, and you will be flummoxed to see how much of their design and conduct reinforces gender stereotypes particularly the ones related to submissive and inferior role of a woman. The disproportionately designed barbie doll figure is anything but close to reality. Instead of designing a more natural looking barbie , the company sells an image that is barely attainable in reality and by doing so it reinforces the unrealistic standards of beauty set for women. Most disney movies reinforce hegemonic masculinity and circle around the idea that women need to be physically attractive and submissive in their conduct to serve the interests of men who will be their life saviors. From Snow white, Cinderella, The little mermaid, Ariel, Belle, to Rapunzel and other Disney princesses, the focal point has been the idea that physical attractiveness empowers girls, girls need to be physically attractive and have a subordinate role where the whole life revolves around fantasizing for the prince who would save their lives and bring them happiness which is equated to the fulfillment of materialistic desires. 'And they lived happily ever after', is an ending note of most disney stories that defines happiness in terms of achieving heterosexual love whereby a woman is the source of attraction for men.On the contrary , the prince or the male characters are shown to be strong headed, aggressive, and sharp. Women's job is to win men's heart through their physical beauty and submissiveness and men's job is to take a lead and earn livelihood. Although such romanticized movies might entertain a few but the message our children learn from these movies is far from reality Women participation in the labour force has increased manifolds, they are increasingly becoming career oriented and a trend of dual earner couples has increased drastically respectively. The gap between reality and fantasy these movies, toys, cartoons, and even story books create could particularly be harmful for children and adolescents who are in the crucial stage of forming a self identity.  However, the much appreciated Disney movie' Frozen' with all its different storyline has sparked some hope for women liberation from the age old idea of female subordination. Similarly, the leading role of Merida in 'Brave' too successfully challenges the stereotypical notion that girls are weak and subordinate. 

Shakespare's play 'Taming of the Shrew' is an ideal example of reinforcing gender stereotypes in official curriculum. The play revolves around the concept of an aggressive, blunt, unromantic woman turning into a polite, sweet, submissive, calm and caring person after she falls in love with a male character in the play. The play is suggestive of an idea that a man has the power to change even a shrewd, blunt, aggressive, and unromantic woman into a desirably sweet and submissive one, through his love and affection. It reinforces the notion that women are dependent on men, they need to be submissive, and they should live their lives in accordance to the whims and desires of the men. 

Women are mostly assigned passive roles rather than an active one in terms of dominance, control, and influence. If a woman is considered beautiful and pretty, she is defined so in accordance to the liking of the men and desirable traits are laid down by the heterosexual normative structure that favors hegemonic masculinity and keeps emphasized femininity intact and subordinated. Women are also seen to play a passive role in gender relations and balance of power but this needs to stop because no child is born weak or strong; its socialization that shapes their personalities a particular way. According to one of the researches carried out on male babies, it was noticed that male babies cried just as much and sometimes even more than female babies did but because of the way they were socialized and raised, they were made to learn that they need to be 'mommy's big boy who doesn't cry'. According to the Gender Role Strain theory and the Socialized dysfunctional characteristic theory, the societal pressure on men and women to necessarily act a certain way and come up to the standards set for them by the society,could potentially stress them under a gender role strain. One of the research carried out by Dove , the beauty product, uncovered an interesting phenomenon; most women drew a  far uglier image of themselves than they actually were. This is reflective of their felt pressure and strain to come up to the unrealistic and highly demanding standards of beauty set for them by the society. 

My parents always encouraged me to be active in sports and play with boys and girls alike, whereas the general trend in the society I hail from, was to segregate girls and boys and let girls play with girls only. I never played with dolls, and never wore pink back in childhood days. My brother and I used to ride horses and play with lego blocks instead. The way my parents raised me was very different from the usual trend in the larger family as well as the society I belong to. On one occasion, I remember, when I was six years old, I beat my brother in a friendly wrestling match. My parents proudly called me 'sher beta' which in urdu, my native language, means something close to ' our brave child', and cherished the moment with delight but they were the only ones celebrating my innocent little victory. My relatives , unlike my parents, thought that it was highly inappropriate of me to beat my brother even if it was just a friendly wrestling match and I was asked to apologize my brother. Although at that time I did not understand why my relatives scolded me just when they should have congratulated me on my victory however small and meaningless it was, I can easily comprehend today that I belonged to a male dominant society and that my parents were broad-minded and different from the rest.  

It is about time we realize that the unrealistic standards and expectations we set for men and women should be done away with in order to relieve the respective genders of the felt role strains and let them live healthier lives mentally and physically. Instead of raising our children in ways that reinforce gender stereotypical biases and notions, we should grant our children the freedom to explore their sense of identity and take pride in who they are. Parenting and teaching techniques should make sure that gender neutral plays, toys, books, and curriculum are promoted whenever the need be in order to enhance intellectual growth and self esteem of children. Instead of expecting every boy to look like Russell Crow  in gladiator and every girl to look like a disproportionately designed barbie doll, girls and boys should be respected for 'who' they are rather than 'how' they look. 

Endangered Humanity

One of my class fellows in US happened to be a jew by religion. She was with me in 'Social Problems' class which was an eye opener for a lot of students, myself included. We studied and analyzed injustice, conflict resolution, international wars, militarism, drone strikes, poverty, social issues, socio economic dynamics and Human Rights at most. Since the nature of the subject was such it invited healthy debate and discussion, and she and I would sometimes discuss social issues for hours even after the class. She told me that a jew who practices his religion would not stand for violence and I told her that a person who practices Islam will never commit violence, and then we discussed how Judaism, Christianity, Islam and other religions have a lot in common. None of the religions and no religious teachings promote violence. We concluded and concurred upon the fact that a terrorist has no religion for every religion in the world seemed to discipline humanity and tame humans. She asked me how I feel about Holocaust and I said I strongly condemn it, it was an attack on innocent civilian jews and a pure violation of Human Rights. She paused for a while and then looked up saying ‘ I feel the same for Palestinians, violence against Palestinians is condemnable’ . It was at this point that both of us realized further that Humanity is a single race. Jew or not, Muslim or non Muslim, the pain of violence against Humanity is common. In the course of our discussions we also realized further that a lot of stereotypes and profiling about Muslims and Jews are baseless and over generalized. For instance when a muslim girl covers her head she is profiled as narrow minded and when a muslim man grows a beard he is profiled as a terrorist whereas covering the head for women and growing a beard for men is just as common among jews. It was through my jewish class fellow that I learnt not all jews are Zionists, there are different points of views among jews regarding possibility of jewish land, some of them even consider jewish state an oxymoron and think that a jewish state is forbidden by jewish law, a few of them also think that Israel is not a jewish state because it is secular. Not just because Im a Psychology major person who would never appreciate stereotypes, biases, hatred , violence, and conflicts and not just because Im a muslim who believes in peace, equality, love and kindness but because I am a human being I would stand for, respect, and value Human Rights and Humanity. Religion is something personal and every religion is worthy of respect but a common factor that is social and comes even before defining ourselves in terms of our gender, color, race, religion or ethnicity is Humanity and for the sake of Humanity I wish that Peace prevails around the globe. How often have we heard of President Obama and President Bush use words like ‘war on terror’ ‘global fight against terrorism’ ‘mutual interest’ in their speeches and addresses? Quite a lot of time and they were right- terrorism is infact an ugly monster that affects all of humanity and all of us together should counter it. However, when Israel breaches 65 UN resolutions, uses violence and terror as a force against indigenous Palestinians, does President Obama have the same take on the issue then? No. More than 170 Palestinians have died in just a few days time and more than 140 Palestinians are seriously injured and these are not militants or armed personnel we are talking about, these are unequipped innocent civilians including innocent children and women. If this isn’t enough rehabilitation centers in Palestine have been bombed too. In addition, it’s the fifth day since Israel cut off water supplies to Gaza strip and guess who helped making it possible-Egyptian Government! Not just UNO, EU and US but the Arab League remains unmoved too. When I read about Holocaust against jews , my heart cries, When innocent Christians and their community was burnt, my heart ached, and today when Palestinians are facing genocide , my heart is pained for the same reason- attack on humanity !

I am passionate about women rights but when I think of women and girls in Palestine I think that in the kind of conditions they live, ‘women rights’ would be a luxury. A normal pregnant woman feels joy about embracing the divinity of motherhood but a Palestinian pregnant woman probably only feels apprehensive about the future of yet another Palestinian child born in the face of killings. In my view, Israel and Palestine both are inflicted with aggression and contempt and the whole world should unite in order to reinstate Peace in the region. Only when your own children, mother, daughter, sister, husband, brother, wife, and father become victims of genocide will you speak? Does Human Life have no worth? Is Humanity not a single race? The whole world should speak up and condemn killings in Palestine.

Peace.

one of the hand painted tunics aesthetically designed to express the need for women empowerment. It highlights the stronger side of a woman and challenges the notion that a female is a fragile creature. The bubbles symbolise freedom whereas the red loop pierced on ear symbolically represents social constraints, oppression, and slavery; caught between the two she struggles and searches for her true self and gender identity ! 

*Note : You can purchase this tunic on low price ! ( Half of the profit earned out of selling these tunics is spent on underprivileged girl’s education)

Self and Gender Identity of Females and Empowerment Issue

With the advancement of time, man has progressed much in terms of technology and quality of life but when it comes to women empowerment, he is still enslaved to the age old concept of hegemonic masculinity and female subordination. The society we live in regulates the gender and gender relations in a way that renders heterosexuality not just superior over other forms of being but the only right and the ‘normal’ state to be. Since heterosexuality attaches prestige to male dominance, hegemonic masculinity is over emphasized in such a system. This in effect, determines the share of power or power dynamics between the male and female gender and their relationship structure. An unfair distribution of power oriented towards male dominance ascribes an inferior status of subordination for females. Hence, in such a system, a submissive and physically attractive female is considered desirable for and by men, and if the society promotes hegemonic masculinity , heterosexuality, and male dominance , then the attributes - submissiveness and physical attraction- of females are considered acceptable and socially normative. In order to gain social approval, females under such a system, feel the pressure to come up to standards of beauty and behaviour set for them by the society which is a male dominant one oriented towards pleasing men and their needs. While such an approach may be geared towards pleasing half a population of our society -men and might even be successful at it, the other half faces the challenge  of identity theft, identity crisis, and role strain. It is only too unfair to ignore and tailor the needs of half a population in accordance with the dictations of hegemonic masculinity. Reversing the dynamics of power, that renders female dominance over men, at the cost of disrupting gender role structure and gender norms might prove to be an equal but opposite issue. However, assigning an equal status to women and liberating them from undue social pressures to come up to unrealistic demands of men and society, giving them an equal access to opportunities and resources for personal and intellectual growth, and ensuring provision of Human Rights for men and women alike could potentially obliterate empowerment issues for females. Educating not just women but men too about Women’s Rights would be a constructive step initiated towards granting women respect and dignity they deserve in society.