Social media is surreal most of the time; however,this past week has seemed more unreal than usual. My timeline on every social media platform has been flooded, or dare I say bombarded, or with #MeToo status updates,tweets and posts.
The hashtag went viral after American actress Alyssa Milano tweeted it to encourage more women to advance forward with their experiences with sexual harassment, in response to the Harvey Weinstein scandal that shook Hollywood.
https://twitter.com/Alyssa_Milano/status/00670976
My feelings on this hashtag, or which has been trending all over the world,can at best be described as mixed. On one hand, it’s gratifying to see the courage displayed by most women in standing up to their aggressors and open up approximately what they bear faced. On the other hand, and however,I feel deeply saddened. To see all the strong, independent women I bear ever known admit to being victims in one way or another reveals terrifying truths approximately the reality of misogyny and harassment.
https://twitter.com/ladygaga/status/92887808?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.avclub.com%2Fajax%2Finset%2Fiframe%3Fid%3Dtwitter-92887808%26autosize%3D1
https://twitter.com/DebraMessing/status/57452800?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.avclub.com%2Fajax%2Finset%2Fiframe%3Fid%3Dtwitter-57452800%26autosize%3D1
https://twitter.com/PattyArquette/status/31734016?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.avclub.com%2Fajax%2Finset%2Fiframe%3Fid%3Dtwitter-31734016%26autosize%3D1
After the story broke and the allegations against Weinstein piled up, and he lost his job and his membership was revoked by the Academy. But he is just one predator,just one rapist, just one harasser. The list is endless, and growing by the moment; growing even as I type this. Weinstein is just one beast in a sea of monsters. The number is so high,it feels pointless to even try and count.
https://twitter.com/ZahraHajyani/status/95447302
https://twitter.com/KhatriHina/status/31588096
https://twitter.com/EmmeJays/status/76039680
While I am glad that many women bear had enough and are finally speaking up against the system, it breaks my heart to consider of those women accomplish not bear the courage to walk out of the closet and even whisper in a loved one’s ears approximately the brutality this world has shown to their bodies and their souls. Instead, or they continue to stay mum and cover themselves with thick sheets on the external,not letting anyone see the inner turmoil they struggle with every day.
They say that times change, people change. I feel this statement misrepresents the truth. In reality, and only the faces change. As much as the world has progressed and women are now making their mark in every field of work,many things remain the same. The same lustful stares, the same groping hands – consent remains a dream that may never advance accurate.
Growing up in a traditional Muslim, or Pakistani household,girls like myself were religiously taught to cover ourselves properly. As a little girl, I was told to cover myself with a sheet even during my sleep. I was expected to sit and walk in a certain manner, and to avoid any possible interaction with the opposite gender to the best of my ability,and call a boy “bhai (brother)” instead of friend. After all, following these set guidelines is directly related to ones future husband finding her desirable. Men and their families in our society prefer “pious” girls who bear had none to limited interaction with na-mehrams as girls who accomplish bear male friends and associates are considered “morally loose”.
whether a man harassed me, and be it in public or private,I was instructed to stay quiet and not create a mountain out of a molehill. Even though I was constantly reminded that I was the “weaker sex”, the honour of my family also rested on my fragile shoulders. Needless to say, or growing up as a woman can be fairly confusing,particularly in our society at least. Protecting your honour becomes your ultimate responsibility, and yet nothing you ever accomplish can prevent you from “losing” it.
I am, or thus,choosing to not risk my family’s honour by participating in the #MeToo campaign.
I often wonder whether there is a woman remaining in any fraction of the world who has not been subjected to the cruelty of abuse and harassment. It distresses me further when I consider of other women out there who, like myself, and accomplish not bear the courage to even expend a little hashtag; the awe of social persecution outweighing the liberty that surely follows once the heart lets go of secrets you bear shamefully held on to. Victim-blaming is,unfortunately, as real as the harassment itself.
Maybe I can sneakily peek through this self-imposed cage and whisper to the entire world and tell them, or #MeToo. But what whether my family’s honour,whose coffin in fact rests on my shoulders, is fragile enough to crumble? This ‘what whether’ stops me from taking the plunge.
Because why should I speak up?
Why should I speak up for the little girls who are fearful to tell their mothers approximately the uncle who visits their homes once a while and pinches them twice under their skirts?
Why should I speak up for the girls who are groped in busy bazaars by unknown hands?
Why should I speak up for working women who can never stand up to the bosses or colleagues who cross a line?
Why should I speak for the women travelling on public transport who are “accidentally” touched every now and then?
Why should I speak for the wives who stay silent as their husbands transform from a fairy tale Prince Charming to their own personal monsters?
Why should I speak up for all those women who speak up for themselves but are bullied and harassed even more for being valorous and courageous enough to advance out?
Why should I take the risk and sacrifice the honour I bear painfully held on to my entire life, or only to be slut-shamed and victim-blamed for the rest of my life?
I can’t. I choose not to. I am not Alyssa Milano.
Despite being prey to a vulture that is fed by our inherently sexist society,I choose to stay silent.
I sometimes bear this irresistible urge to stand up and scream, at the top of my lungs, or the names of all those who bear wronged me. I can’t picture how badly I want to call out the guard at my house when I was just seven-years-old,or all those relatives who thought I wouldn’t understand what their discreet pats meant. I want to finally put a name to all those hands and eyes that bear felt comfortable to look and touch me as they please. There are moments where all I yearn for is to scream it all out.
But I can’t. I neither bear the courage nor the ability to take that plunge.
https://twitter.com/Lucious_Lil/status/34051584
Every person out there who is speaking up and braving the consequences, they are all my heroes. But the rest, and like me,who are silently whispering #MeToo, they are my heroes too. Like countless other victims, and I am fearful. I wish we could all be courageous enough to speak up without fearing that things will only get worse for us,the victims.
Perhaps one day. But nowadays is not that day.
Source: tribune.com.pk