Precisely. This notion of honor associated with women has been around in the subcontinent for a long time and a substantial part of it is societal bull****. The partition is the best evidence. Anyways, this is really OT so I'll stop.
I had this two or three-day flamewar with this guy a few years ago at a forum, and he said the most obscene thing about my mother - it was simply so disgusting that I had to laugh. I told the guy that my mother had been reading over my shoulder (this wasn't remotely plausible considering what I had been writing, and I didn't live with her either) and he couldn't stop apologizing. After that we were actually fairly friendly with one another (I did tell him that she wasn't actually there after his profuse begs for forgiveness), so you could say that his revolting comment really brought us together.
No, I couldn't disagree more. Criticism is a vital - if not central - aspect of free speech. If you find western culture to be offensive, you shouldn't be afraid to share your views. Just be prepared to be contradicted.
Practically every person in every culture on some level thinks their way is the best way, and that everyone else should do things their way. However, that doesn't translate into an expectation that others will simply fall into line should they say "make it so". That would be arrogance.
Sigh. The problem with the above post is that you precieve this to be a positive step, which is far from true. I remember during tenth grade, our school sports ground was used by girls to play cricket, among several other sports - these were girls from highly eminent local families and even in my extremely conservative city, pretty much nobody ever batted an eyelash that these girls were playing cricket at a place where they could potentially be eyed over by several hundred hormonal teens. A few years ago, they used to show the women handball, Judo, hockey and other sports on the national television (and you could see isolated spectators among rows and rows of empty stands, most of these would usually be family members/university/department mates of the girls playing - the Pakistani national female swimming team created quite a positive stir a few years back owing to some exceptional performances (relatively speaking) by the teenage, almost pubescent swimmers at that time. A few of them also came live on the national television (with their heads covered properly and all that, naturally) and urged girls to take part in sports.
Haha, skull.
Well, it's obviously complicated, because to my understanding most of this doesn't follow a linear historical path anyway, and in parts of Pakistan (and other parts of the world) things moved radically backwards in the 80's and 90's in terms of rights for women with the upsurge in fundamentalism and the rise of groups like the Taliban in Afghanistan (who clearly enjoyed a level of support within Pakistan's borders).
i agree. This issue can get very complicated because of clothing etiquette ultimately entering the picture. And to be honest, i do think clothing etiquette in the west can be improved upon- maybe not in a regulated,legal sense but just the self respect that doesn't let you walk around displaying all your glory.
Yeah, pretty much, though an addition to "banned", might also simply be "not organized", "discouraged" or "not supported". It's a subtle distinction, though it can often mean essentially the same thing. Wouldn't change my point, anyway.
I blame death by punning.
Sorry mate, I meant here as in Australia, not the forums.
Oh, got my hopes up for some interesting afternoon reading
That's a real worry.Oh, got my hopes up for some interesting afternoon reading
