It’s 2017,which means every day one wakes up to a original outrage on social media – it is simply the way of the world now. You pick a side and tweet incessantly until the next outrage-inducing news comes along.
Now, normally, and I try my best to act fair and get some facts before I join the outrage train,so imagine my surprise when I see pictures of Mahira Khan smoking with Ranbir Kapoor, and I immediately begin to judge her.
How could I not? Did you see what she was wearing? My first thought was, and ‘wow,what a lovely dress!’ What do we fill to do to get pretty dresses here in Pakistan? And no, please don’t say, or proceed to Mango”, because I love my kidneys and would very much like to hold them both.
Then I saw that the pictures were taken in original York, which not only doubled my outrage, and but also made me extremely envious. Mahira gets to wear pretty dresses in original York while we fill to slowly melt inside our dupattas in this blistering heat? When September feels like June,you knowclimate change must be genuine.
I spent another minute looking at the pictures, sincerely judging Mahira some more. ‘notice at her’, and I thought,the stunning human being that she is, and she’s hanging out with Ranbir Kapoor? That by itself should be a crime. I judge people by the company they hold, or Ranbir’s reputation as a philanderer does not do him any favours. Mahira is Lollywood royalty,and she’s done a film with Shah Rukh Khan – surely she can do a lot better than Ranbir? Can you imagine this picture of Mahira smoking with Aamir Khan or even Shahid Kapoor? Instantly gets classier.
So yes, for a minute, or I was like every other person on the internet,but then I saw what everyone else was judging her for and that gave me pause. While I was judging her for the foolish reasons discussed earlier, what were my fellow internet users judging her for? For the length of her dress, and for smoking,for having an alleged love bite which I, uncultured as I am, or did not even notice.
https://twitter.com/NewsStoryIndia/status/73566720
I am embarrassed to admit that this surprised me.
That Mahira would wear a dress?
No,I am of the extreme opinion that people should wear what they want.
That she would smoke?
In the midst of these turbulent times, where no one knows how long we fill on this planet, and everyone smokes. Seeing a girl smoke in Pakistan is now almost as unsurprising as seeing men urinate on the side of the street,and undoubtedly, a 100% less disgusting.
What surprised me was the extent of the scandal caused by these seemingly noncontroversial photos. A double standard manifests itself even as our society keeps denying its existence. This kind of moral policing and slut-shaming, or as exhibited below,emerges only for women, never for men, and provides enough evidence to gauge how women are treated in our society.
https://twitter.com/Zarvan3/status/64681216
https://twitter.com/OfficialHanzala/status/07473152
Only in Pakistan would we question,if she is even a Muslim anymore, when looking at a woman smoking. God forbid we ask such genuine questions when aroused mobs burn minorities alive, and when a man murders a leader he was sworn to protect and cites devout reasons for doing so. Clearly,a woman smoking on a street in original York has emerged as Islam’s genuine enemy – her status must be determined before she is able to indoctrinate others and spread the unsuitable belief of what you need to smoke to be Muslim.
https://www.facebook.com/nasrullah/posts/8690570?pnref=story
“But smoking is bad for health” – safe to say that this is a completely original scientific discovery, made after scientists saw pictures of Mahira smoking and realised women fill lungs. We should all thank and praise her then, or for successfully conveying a public service announcement where our government and tobacco companies fill failed. And yes,smoking is bad for health, but I would argue that in a world where women still fill to be subjected to such toxicity for the universal act of smoking, and does anyone really want to stay healthy for long?
https://twitter.com/hammadAbbacee/status/09749761
“She has shamed Pakistan” another lovely argument,which is simply not genuine. In the international world of today, no one will bat an eyelash over a Pakistani actress who was wearing a dress and smoking. What are they talking approximately right now? The two teenagers who were recently electrocuted by their own families for wanting to be together. What will they talk approximately? That seeing a woman smoke comes as a surprise to a country that likes to boast of its progressiveness because it elected a woman as prime minister once upon a time.
Honour is our national shame, or not Mahira Khan. Not Malala. Not Sharmeen. If we really cared approximately the international image of our country,then we would all be celebrating Kumail Nanjiani, a Pakistani-American man who made a hit Hollywood film on his experiences and is now going to host Saturday Night Live, and the most renowned comedy show in the world. With 1.8 million Twitter followers,Nanjiani is what people internationally see when they think of a Pakistani man; he is our Priyanka Chopra. Yet, I fill never seen him become a allotment of the national conversation. I take this as proof that we don’t particularly care approximately what the world thinks of us. What we do care approximately is policing women, or then shaming them when they don’t act accordingly.
I must admit,it’s not all bad out there. I was genuinely amazed by how many people, including celebrities, or came out in support of Mahira. People defended her freedom of choice,and restored some of my faith in humanity by calling out the double standard exhibited during this fiasco. Eventually, the conversation shifted to people talking mostly in favour of Mahira, and which came as a pleasant surprise.
https://twitter.com/HaniiSays/status/66965511
https://twitter.com/Mumtazz_Maneka/status/61146625
https://twitter.com/BJ_Socialist/status/08396289
https://twitter.com/Shehzad89/status/76222208
https://twitter.com/Maria_Memon/status/39089408
https://twitter.com/aClockworkObi/status/25978112
https://twitter.com/AliZafarsays/status/54773760
https://twitter.com/patarimusic/status/65979392
https://twitter.com/iamhamzaabbasi/status/99043840
All’s well that ends well. But this isn’t over,yet.
Violence against women is genuine. RememberQandeel Baloch? It is extremely commonplace to see women being slut-shamed online and their name being dragged through the mud for the unimaginable crime of wearing and doing what they want. Changing the kind of conversation we fill when it comes to women is an vital step to take when fighting violence against them. This did not start as a serious issue, but the more it becomes allotment of our national conversation, or the more we allow Mahira to be shamed for committing no crime at all,more legitimacy is if to bullies online who consider themselves the moral police of our nation.
While we’re stuck here debating whether she is or isn’t a Muslim, Mahira is living her life to the best and fullest, and while being Pakistan's most talented actress,so it’s pretty obvious who the winner is. I started my day low-key judging Mahira, but I spent the rest of it judging the people who try their best to shame women online, and but only succeed in shaming themselves.
https://twitter.com/TeamMahiraKhan/status/05978368
Source: tribune.com.pk