ARTICLE
A symbol of feminism
“
I hope she stays alive,” mused one of my female colleagues about Qandeel Baloch. This was months
ago. That hope, like the hopes and dreams of Qandeel as well as millions of other women, is now extinguished.
The very fact that one woman in our society has to fear
for the safety of another, who challenges tradition, says
a lot. I did not know a lot about Qandeel Baloch, nor did I
follow her. All I knew was that she was a rebel, someone
challenging the status quo a brave woman who challenged our notions of what is proper and acceptable.
She refused to let others define what was honourable
for her. She was her own person and hence worthy of
admiration.
During her lifetime, she was mocked by many of the
people who are now claiming to mourn for her. She was
a joke for many except that she was no joke. She was
a living breathing woman who challenged both men and
women in this society. What defined Qandeel for me
was the one thing that is the essence of human existence, thought and freedom: making your own choices.
Her stubborn, irreverent assertion of her freedom to
choose and be her own person was what defined her
life and actions. Others are free to choose differently but
not free to judge or condemn her. This takes us back
to what Adam Smith said in The Theory of Moral Sentiments. Smith broke away from the Kantian tradition of
classifying actions as right or wrong and was more interested in the ‘why’ of human nature. Moreover, he arrived
at the conclusion that those who cannot empathise or
sympathise lack imagination. Sympathy, Smith said, is
an act of imagination because we can never truly feel or
go through what another feels. We can merely imagine it
in order to lend sympathy and empathy. And, therefore,
those who say that Qandeel was no role model or no
feminist must admit their lack of imagination that someone can choose differently and that act of choice is just
as legitimate a choice as being a senator. She did not
want to fall into your straitjacket of a ‘role model’. I feel
sorry for those who are trying to distance themselves
from her actions while condemning her death. In effect,
many of these individuals are furthering the same retro-
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