Blogging sets us free
FILE - In this July 10, 2010, file photo provided by Marie Ternes, Rep. Anthony Weiner, D-N.Y., poses with his wife Huma Abedin, close aide to Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton. Generally, cross-cultural marriages are considered inappropriate by Asian families settled in the US. AP Photo
On a recent visit to the United States, one of my former university roommates explained the story of a Pakistani woman and an Indian-Jamaican mans struggle to find peace in their relationship.
Her family wanted nothing to do with the possibility of an Indian, albeit Jamaican, son-in-law. Eventually, this couple decided to wed without the consent of the brides family. The couples struggle highlights the ongoing frustrations met by Pakistani women across the United States and in their home country.
The story heightened my interest in learning more about the budding Pakistani womens bloggers movement that has sprouted up across the United States, Europe and elsewhere. No longer, it appears, are they to remain silent victims to what a number of young women have told me is the fight for our very freedom to live our lives as we choose. For these young women it has meant antagonism, hate speech and even ostracism from the communities they grew up in, especially when a majority of their family has remained in Pakistan.
It is definitely a tough situation facing us young women wherever we are, said Aroussa Khan, a Pakistani woman from Islamabad who has now been living in the US for 8 years and hopes to get her US citizenship. She is also one of scores of young Muslim Pakistani women who blog about their life and the differences between Pakistan and the US.
For Khan, it is a matter of survival to blog. Without the ability to write and tell people about the realities, the oddities and the cultural differences between the two countries, she says she would go insane. Its not, however, all about niceties. In fact, Khan and other young Pakistani women have begun to speak out against what they perceive as injustices to women in their native land.
You know, when I started the blog, a lot of what I wrote about was so people could see that Pakistan is a great place and women are not treated so poorly, she began, but soon I discovered a lot of horrific things that go on in Pakistan and the way women are treated. It isnt like America is better, but in many ways Pakistan and the people need to understand that a lot of the daily life things here is simply better, especially for women.
When I told Khan about my acquaintances from university and the troubles they have gone through, she said it was to be expected. Ive written about this a number of times. It is okay for a man to go around philandering, but for a woman to fall in love with a non-Muslim, let alone an Indian, that is almost like telling your parents to go to hell.
Her family, like many of the other bloggers I spoke with, dont have an inkling that their daughters are writing online, being critical and exploring details of life that would otherwise be met with ostracism and possible murder in their home countries.
Another blogger Salma, also writing anonymously, said that if her parents knew what she was writing, they wouldnt allow her back in the house. She wasnt writing much that many would find offensive.
To be critical of Pakistani society, especially for my family, who is more on the traditional mother stays at home type, it would be the end of me, she revealed. So, I write about my anger and frustration for the double standards that so often exists in Pakistan. My meaning behind my writing is not to create tension with people back home, but to show them that we are not happy with how things are going and that women deserve more in life, she said.
Much of the recent bloggers inspiration came from a number of websites that have been critical of culture, whether in the United States or in the Islamic world. One of those oft-mentioned sites is Kabobfest.com, a unique Muslim group blog that develops and writes critical and engaging articles with an Islamic focus. A number of sub-continent women contribute to the blog on a regular basis. For many of the young women, it was the beginning of the creation of their ideas of freedom and justice. Simply put, these young women are not dissimilar to those women anywhere who are speaking out and demanding their rights.
Talking about how Muslim men react to women bloggers, Pakistani-American professor, Tariq Kamal at LA City College said, What I find so fascinating is that men often take things personally when their women are speaking about things they dont like. It is part of exactly what the women are talking about, this false honor that doesnt allow freedom of thought to be pushed forward. Of course, you have crazy people who are out there to slur women at any chance they can get, and it is unfortunate that our cultural traditions seem to allow this. Pakistani men seem to be either on the side of support or antagonism, there is really few in between because of the nature of such discussions.
Khan told me that too often analysts and commentators, especially the white people in their chairs, see us as empowering women, but the reality is much different.
What we are doing is simply writing and telling our views on how our societies, both here in America and back home can be different, can be better and how women deserve a voice and say in our future, she added.
In many ways that is the crux of the matter. For women to write and criticise their native countries, Western commentators quickly jump on the bandwagon of empowerment. We in the media are sometimes rash in our latching onto womens empowerment as an end all, full stop, one article and move on idea, but these young women deserve more credit than they are currently receiving. Their writing and their criticisms are not just in passing, they are the very future that will shake the foundation of their societies and we, as media professionals, must do a better job of assisting in delivering their voices to our readers.
The writer is an American journalist based in Cairo and is the Editor-in-chief of bikyamasr.com
On a recent visit to the United States, one of my former university roommates explained the story of a Pakistani woman and an Indian-Jamaican mans struggle to find peace in their relationship.
Her family wanted nothing to do with the possibility of an Indian, albeit Jamaican, son-in-law. Eventually, this couple decided to wed without the consent of the brides family. The couples struggle highlights the ongoing frustrations met by Pakistani women across the United States and in their home country.
The story heightened my interest in learning more about the budding Pakistani womens bloggers movement that has sprouted up across the United States, Europe and elsewhere. No longer, it appears, are they to remain silent victims to what a number of young women have told me is the fight for our very freedom to live our lives as we choose. For these young women it has meant antagonism, hate speech and even ostracism from the communities they grew up in, especially when a majority of their family has remained in Pakistan.
It is definitely a tough situation facing us young women wherever we are, said Aroussa Khan, a Pakistani woman from Islamabad who has now been living in the US for 8 years and hopes to get her US citizenship. She is also one of scores of young Muslim Pakistani women who blog about their life and the differences between Pakistan and the US.
For Khan, it is a matter of survival to blog. Without the ability to write and tell people about the realities, the oddities and the cultural differences between the two countries, she says she would go insane. Its not, however, all about niceties. In fact, Khan and other young Pakistani women have begun to speak out against what they perceive as injustices to women in their native land.
You know, when I started the blog, a lot of what I wrote about was so people could see that Pakistan is a great place and women are not treated so poorly, she began, but soon I discovered a lot of horrific things that go on in Pakistan and the way women are treated. It isnt like America is better, but in many ways Pakistan and the people need to understand that a lot of the daily life things here is simply better, especially for women.
When I told Khan about my acquaintances from university and the troubles they have gone through, she said it was to be expected. Ive written about this a number of times. It is okay for a man to go around philandering, but for a woman to fall in love with a non-Muslim, let alone an Indian, that is almost like telling your parents to go to hell.
Her family, like many of the other bloggers I spoke with, dont have an inkling that their daughters are writing online, being critical and exploring details of life that would otherwise be met with ostracism and possible murder in their home countries.
Another blogger Salma, also writing anonymously, said that if her parents knew what she was writing, they wouldnt allow her back in the house. She wasnt writing much that many would find offensive.
To be critical of Pakistani society, especially for my family, who is more on the traditional mother stays at home type, it would be the end of me, she revealed. So, I write about my anger and frustration for the double standards that so often exists in Pakistan. My meaning behind my writing is not to create tension with people back home, but to show them that we are not happy with how things are going and that women deserve more in life, she said.
Much of the recent bloggers inspiration came from a number of websites that have been critical of culture, whether in the United States or in the Islamic world. One of those oft-mentioned sites is Kabobfest.com, a unique Muslim group blog that develops and writes critical and engaging articles with an Islamic focus. A number of sub-continent women contribute to the blog on a regular basis. For many of the young women, it was the beginning of the creation of their ideas of freedom and justice. Simply put, these young women are not dissimilar to those women anywhere who are speaking out and demanding their rights.
Talking about how Muslim men react to women bloggers, Pakistani-American professor, Tariq Kamal at LA City College said, What I find so fascinating is that men often take things personally when their women are speaking about things they dont like. It is part of exactly what the women are talking about, this false honor that doesnt allow freedom of thought to be pushed forward. Of course, you have crazy people who are out there to slur women at any chance they can get, and it is unfortunate that our cultural traditions seem to allow this. Pakistani men seem to be either on the side of support or antagonism, there is really few in between because of the nature of such discussions.
Khan told me that too often analysts and commentators, especially the white people in their chairs, see us as empowering women, but the reality is much different.
What we are doing is simply writing and telling our views on how our societies, both here in America and back home can be different, can be better and how women deserve a voice and say in our future, she added.
In many ways that is the crux of the matter. For women to write and criticise their native countries, Western commentators quickly jump on the bandwagon of empowerment. We in the media are sometimes rash in our latching onto womens empowerment as an end all, full stop, one article and move on idea, but these young women deserve more credit than they are currently receiving. Their writing and their criticisms are not just in passing, they are the very future that will shake the foundation of their societies and we, as media professionals, must do a better job of assisting in delivering their voices to our readers.
The writer is an American journalist based in Cairo and is the Editor-in-chief of bikyamasr.com
