Earlier this month, two extraordinary women were in the news: Fahmida Riaz, the poet, whose death was mourned by many and SP Suhai Aziz Talpur, whose triumph was celebrated by proud Pakistanis when she was at the forefront of the operation against the terrorists who had attacked the Chinese consulate in Karachi.

While many feminists may celebrate them, they represent a far more complex space that cannot be contained in a traditional gender discourse.

Fahmida Riaz said in an interview with fellow poet, Amar Sindhu, “I am not an exceptionally politically over-charged poet. Perhaps the only exception is that I am a woman.” She has translated into Urdu Rumi’s works, the poetic works of Shah Latif Bhittai and Shaikh Ayaz, as well as written about a range of political and social issues. However, her public perception is imprinted with her 1978 publication Badan Dareeda in which she shared her sensual awakening.

She says she did not set out to shock but merely expressed as she always has “the relationship between the life and works of a writer.”

Are we saying SP Talpur’s leadership in the Chinese consulate operation was impressive because the threat was quickly and efficiently contained? Or are we impressed that she achieved this despite being a woman? Talpur’s determined no-nonsense manner reflects her belief that “jobs are not gender specific.” Her male colleagues and superiors put faith in her abilities rather than her gender.

History is filled with remarkable women that fought for the rights of women through action and words — Emmeline Pankhurst’s Suffragette movement, Germaine Greer’s The Obstacle Race, and Betty Friedan’s The Feminine Mystique to name a few.

However, there is also a large number of women whose motivation to achieve their goals had little to do with their gender, such as Rosa Parks who refused to give up her seat to a white man on a city bus in the US, or Hypatia in the fourth century Egypt and Lubna in the 10th century Andalusia who were respected teachers of mathematics and philosophy.

History is filled with remarkable women that fought for the rights of women — Emmeline Pankhurst’s Suffragette movement, Germaine Greer’s The Obstacle Race, and Betty Friedan’s The Feminine Mystique to name a few.

A substantial list of women inventors and scientists is finally surfacing: Lisa Meitner’s discovery of nuclear fission in the 19th century, Marie Curie’s theory of radioactivity, actress Hedy Lamarr’s work in wireless communications which made the cellphone technology and digital communications of today possible, and Stephanie Kwolek’s invention of Kevlar used for bulletproof vests of soldiers and law enforcement officers all over the world. Well into the 20th century, it was still found necessary to create the Girl Geek movement, which grew out of the realisation that there were many geeky, nerdy women who were as obsessed about technology as men.

Women warriors have existed in almost every age and in every nation. Some were formed into women’s armies such as the Greek era Amazons of Anatolia, the Amazons of Libya, the African Dahomey Amazons in the 17th to 19th century, the 500 strong Turkish women archers, the 500 Abyssinian swordswomen employed by Ghiyasuddin Khilji and the 18th century women’s army of Rani Velu Nachiyar.

Individual female warriors –– Boudicca, Joan of Arc, Razia Sultana, Rani of Jhansi, Chand Bibi, Khawlah bint al-Azwar, and Sayyida al Hurra of Morocco, or the Vietnamese Lady Triu, fought at the command of or side by side with male warriors. Women also took part in wars as individuals such as the female Samurai, Nakano Takeko or Noor-un-Nisa Inayat Khan, Indian spy for the British in WWII.

It is not men who are threatened by strong or independent women but “society”, which includes both men and women, that wants to preserve the continuity of past social structures. As systems scientist Peter Senge says: “People don’t resist change. They resist being changed.”

Durriya Kazi is a Karachi-based artist and heads the department of visual studies at the University of Karachi
Email: durriyakazi1918@gmail.com

Published in Dawn, EOS, December 2nd, 2018