Celebrating a birth
Waiting in the lobby of a hospital this evening, I was approached by a young boy with a box of mithai. Not sure whether it had something to do with the month or otherwise, I asked him what was the occasion and he replied that he had just had a niece. Yes, there is hope. People can and do celebrate the birth of a girl. Or would the sweets have been bigger and better and distributed by an elder had it been a boy? Whatever the case, Karachi welcomed one of the luckier girls in the country this evening.
this in quite in line with your past posts so no comment but you might want to take a look here http://www.gendercide.org/case_infanticide.html . to some extent this has also skewed the gender balance ACROSS the border http://www.csmonitor.com/2005/0209/p11s01-wosc.html
anon-again: in line with my past posts? keep it up and i’ll start believing in a vast right wing conspiracy just as hillary does.
Thats really sweet, but is that still an issue there? Regardless i love it when ppl share their joy’s!
Cy, in case you’re confused (or is it wishful thinking?) you’re in Pakistan not India.
The birth of a girl is not considered a stigma in this society. There may still be communities who are prejudiced against girls being born but there are a minority. The vast majority of parents thank God for whatever He gives them.
But then you always focus on the negative. Even when someone does something good and shares their joy, all you can see (and highlight) is negativity. Leave it to Cy to find darkness in light!
Kidal: I appreciate the suggestion, and, yes, India is a nice place, but I’m happy enough here.
As for your comment about the vast majority of Pakistanis, I would suggest perhaps it’s you who is confused about the country in which you live.
Cy, what part of Pakistan are you living in dude?
I dont think our society stigmatizes women as much as your post seems to suggest. Sure, there are some places where women are not considered desirable offspring, but they are usually in the poorer segments of the society where boys are supposed to contribute to the family as breadwinners.
You must also remember that we have had a woman as prime minister TWICE!! whereas comparatively, the US has had none!
cy(nic) wake up
very interesting debate . what i find even more interesting is this rush by different commentators to refute the steely cold reality .
i almost fell off the chair when i read the woman prime minister analogy. surely , women all over pakistan feel so much better about themselves ever since she came to govt. specially around larkana. eat nuts my friend.
reminds me of the famous line from SNL by Stuart Smalley character -Denial is not only the name of a river in Egypt.
cheers
DV
I’m starting to see a lot of people out to fight with whosoever posts on this blog these days. It’s gotten to the point where a poster could say “Murder is bad” and the commenter will go “No murder is good” It would be a different matter if the commenters chose to carry out civilized discussions but majority of the time they seem to be personally attacking the posters.
Just my two cents and a suggestion that folks calm down.
Its not that ppl fights here, its just a debate in which they take part, and no one should take it personal.
I like ‘Cy’ in a way that he never bounce back to ppl who criticize him or give negative comments on his posts. His post sometimes doesnt make sense but he seems to be a cool guy.
Darthvader and Saira,
You’ve both hit it right on the spot. Could’nt have said it better myself. Absolutely love the line about “denial”.
I think this post was completely unnecessary and out of place. Someone did something nice. Instead of celebrating it, Cy acted as if it was a rarity to see parents happy at the birth of a girl in this country. He acted surprised and cynically added his speculation that the mithai would have been bigger if it was a boy.
This is typical media spin you see in the most right wing newspapers and media organizations.
I have nothing personal against Cy (I don’t even know the guy!). But most of his posts do nothing but stir debates as if to test the reactions of people on this blog. His posts are negative and cynical pretending to be progressive and constructive.
By the way, I dont think having a woman Prime Minister says much about how women are viewed in Pakistan.
Cy for President! Oh wait – this is an Islamic republic…
Ya Allah karanchi ka mausam sahi kardey……
Cy’s post should not be taken as a attack…This is construtive critism.
But Cy I think you should clarify you intentions more. I am sure you are not blaming eveyone. Almost anyone would agree with you if they knew you are not blaming in general but a certain problem with certain people.
DarthVader, I am not sure how it is for women in your family, however, in mine, most women are completely independent and leading very good professional careers. There are also a LOT of them. So even if there are segments that represent the bad, do remember that there are also segments that represent the good. Even though the balance of the two is not fair, it is our job to promote more respect and encouragement of women.
This however is not going to start if we start making sweeping generalizations like Cy did in his post.
It’s true that many Pakistanis celebrate the birth of girls, but the big picture is that Pakistan is one of the few countries in the world with a skewed sex ration (more men than women), along with India and China. Most countries in the world have slightly more women than men.
Of course this doesn’t mean all Pakistanis are sexist, but obviously enough of them are to cause this situation. I think Cy has done nothing wrong here.
Where is Poo Poo ? I have not seen him for a long time. He might be in prison with shaitan during ramadan, could some one verify that please?. Contest b/w him and CY would be awesome. My money is on Poo :-)
making sweeping generalizations
*nods*. Like all start blaming whole Christian community after reading about this guy who’s desprate to join a ‘Christian Army’.
Contest b/w Poo and Cy *would* be fun :D
K.A. and Mansoor: Who is this Poo? I will poo all over him. ;)
Kidal: I think you may be on to something …
The girl stigmas are well and alive in this country—i dont know where the rest of you pakistanis seem to live, but i’ve seen subtle and not-so-subtle hints that producing a girl is not such a cause for joy, especially the second (or third or fourth) time round. And yes I’m talking about pakistani families, well-to-do pakistani families even. Cy’s post is right on the mark.
Not all the times CY acts SOBER, but this post is one sign that CY can be rational and sober at own choice,. Cheers CY!
I really have enjoyed reading this lively blog and all the interesting comments. All the different points of view that are expressed has helped me gain a better understanding of Pakistan and the diversity of its people.
Poo quits KMB. He announced this on his blog
I think he has got fedup now. Well me too.
Poo? what a smelly name
Cy reminds me of those ivory tower intellectual elists who take a euro-centric approach to life and pretend like somehow they are more enlightened than everyone else.
Unlike your “civilized” “secular” countries of India, EU, and Japan – we actually have a NORMAL female to male birth ratio. In India girls are aborted on-demand. In Japan women will often go get abortions of females because they don’t want to have more than one child, and if they do, they want it to be a “smart” male, and let’s not even get started on what happens in Eastern Europe where young girls are sold into European sex trade literally upon birth.
If you have a problem with how women are treated in society, don’t be a smug self-righteous bastard sitting in your elitist comforting ways offending your fellow citizens. Offer alternatives that go beyond the mere bullcrap of the secular fundamentalist NGOs and attempt to bring to light the true perspective people should have of women in Islam.
I-H-B-B: wah! the true perspective of islam being offered by a guy with ‘hate’ in his nick. food for thought? i won’t hold my breath.
Pretty lame Cy. All you could find to get back at IHBB is his nick? Btw, he did not offer any islamic perspective. He simply criticized you for your attitude – rather eloquently too.
Thanks Kidal :)
yes I am not offering any Islamic perspective… Just a perspective on life… You know Cy… the type of life you secular fundamentalists like to talk about… Good works and all that…