urooj tharani english article

“Smoking is Injurious to Character” 

By Urooj Tharani

2k17/MC/152

“Smoking is injurious to health” but if a woman smokes it becomes injurious to character. It is fine and acceptable for everyone if a man does anything he wants. But when a woman does something of her wish it becomes the matter of character, family honour, (Log kya kahen ge) factor. When this difference is going to end? When our society will accept feminism? It is 72nd year of independence but our women are not independent yet. 

Smoking is injurious to character in case a woman is smoking. A guy smoking is considered normal. Okay the guy might be considered indulging in the wrong habits, but wouldn’t be judged much. Whereas any girl smoking would automatically be judged as ‘loose.’ when a woman is smoking it is considered a sin. Why is it so? In our society there are some things which are not expected from a woman to do and smoking is one of them. When a woman buys a pack of cigarettes, people around think it is not only injurious to her health, but also for a woman it is injurious to her character. 

In our society man can do anything that he wants to do there are not any rules for them. He can go out whenever he wants. No time limits for him because he is a man. He can hang out at midnight because he is a man. If he is coming back home at 3 am its fine because he is a boy. But when a woman goes out there are time limits for her. She has to come back before mid-night. If she is coming back home late it becomes the problem of family honour. Society will start talking about her character. It is not considered safe for her. She can be kidnapped, raped or harassed and the only reason is that she is a woman. In hostels, timing of return is fixed for girls which is always around 8 pm. However, for boys there is limit of 12 am and if they come late they are permitted to come in. 

Man can wear whatever he wants: Eastern, Western. Even he can go out without his shirt on. No one is going to judge him. But if a woman wears anything people will comment either she is wearing burqa, she is an “aalima”. if she is wearing salwar kurta she is so old class. If she is wearing something Western she is considered characterless. People are not going to be happy in any condition. If a guy uses abusive language, it is ok but when a woman abuses it is wrong. If a guy hangout with girls it’s cool but when a girl hangout with boys she is characterless. If a guy gets promotion it is his hard work but when a woman gets promotion people start talking about her character. 

Some women do all manly works because they think this will make them equal to man in society. They start abusing men in the name of feminism. They think feminism means conflict between genders. First they say they are equal but when in a fight woman is beaten they say “aren’t you ashamed of beating a woman”. In public transport when a man is sitting on seat and women hasn’t any seat she says “don’t you feel bad? When a woman is standing and you’re sitting”. They abuse and disrespect the opposite gender, which demolishes the whole narrative of feminism.

Feminism is a struggle for equality, a way to progress, opportunities, freedom, economic, social and political rights, and equal rights to health and education. Feminism stands for equal rights for both genders. It doesn’t say that both genders are equal. It argues both genders have right to get equal opportunities. But the main problem is that people think women cannot do the things like men. she is weak. Yeah she is weak because its natural she can’t change her physique but she has the same mind. She can work like a man even better than them in many walks of life. 

In today’s world women are working same as men. She is equally taking part in this progressive world. If she is doing a job she is managing her household at the same time. It means she is working more than man. She can give birth to a baby. Any woman is an individual. She can take decisions on her own, and then why can’t she smoke? We have to change our mentality in order to make it easier for women to do what they like. No I am not encouraging women to start smoking, but some women do smoke and they know the consequences. She can wear whatever she wants to wear. She can go out whenever she wants to go. She can hang out with whoever she wants to. We are no one to judge her actions and give her a bad name. If we are not saying anything to men than why we are judging women? It is their choice in the end and we should respect that.