The Arts Council of Pakistan has been forced to backtrack after it emerged that a discussion on feminism it is hosting was to have an all-male panel.
An outcry on social media resulted in two women guests being added, and Friday’s event in Karachi was renamed.
The original title, Feminism: The Other Perspective, drew derision and has now been recast as .
Organisers say male decision-makers were to share views on feminism, but many critics questioned the very idea.
In overwhelmingly patriarchal Pakistan, having an all-male panel discuss feminism didn’t seem the obvious way to tackle gender inequality.
The only woman included in the original line-up for discussion was host Uzma al-Karim, whose name was put at the bottom of the promotional literature.
These men wanna give the ‘other perspective’ on feminism. Maybe the intention here was to use their privilege for the cause – but this isn’t how allyship works. This is, however, what taking up space looks like.
It is also what men exploiting feminism to build capital looks like pic.twitter.com/lN40rVGfA2
— Aiman Rizvi (@Aimanfrizvi) November 19, 2019
should ve just called it men’s day
and why are all these men agreeing to participating? @manelwatchpk pic.twitter.com/RcmvKeTFA3— Atiya Abbas (@AtiyaAbbas_) November 19, 2019
After sustained criticism on social media, two women speakers were added to the panel – feminist Mehtab Akbar Rashdi and journalist Quatrina Hosain – and Uzma al-Karim’s name was made more prominent in the amended literature.
But that didn’t persuade everyone.
