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 Feminism is a diverse and often controversial collection of social theories, political movements, and moral philosophies, mostly concerning the experiences of women, especially in terms of their social, political, and economical inequalities. One stream of feminist theory known as the ‘Radical feminism‘ maintains that women’s oppression is the first, most widespread, and deepest oppression. I have been studying Gender at Work and have found the feminist literature very interesting and thought-provoking. However, I’m not writing to add to this widespread feeling of women being ill-treated all over the globe. In fact, I feel very privileged when I compare the working women’s situation in the east, taking pakistan as a particular case in discussion, to that in the west. In the middle and upper economic classes, working women are not paid any differently than men if they qualify for a position. Women have fixed percentage of representation in civil services and national assembly of the country. The country was one of the first eastern countries to have elected a female Prime Minister. All board exams and higher education areas show girls bagging top positions and it would be fair to say that these results are mostly based on merit. With so many things to be unhappy about, with so much more room for improvement in our general social well-being, this is one ray of hope…..an enormous relief to see that the Pakistani women are in a relatively better position than the western women belonging to similar economic classes. If they are qualified, they are quite often found to be fighting and winning against the glass-ceilings. There is far less inequality in pay among similarly qualified men and women. The work policies are much more women-friendly and womanly issues such as maternity leave and work-home balance are not frowned upon in our society as they are in the west. Their decisions about marriage, children and domestic responsibilities do not affect their progress at work, unlike the west that the feminist literature complains about. This by no means implies that the eastern work life is a smooth sail, however the issues are mostly common for both men and women. In fact, men are many a times found complaining about their female colleagues getting more benefits, perks and early promotions than them which leads to another kind of controversies about men being robbed off fair competition at work. I believe the feminist literature needs to expand itself and study women’s work conditions in the eastern part of the world more deeply. Besides the portrayal of suppressed eastern women trapped behind veils, the progressive image of middle-class, educated Pakistani women for instance, also needs to be captured in this literature. May be there is something the western work culture can learn from the east this time, for a change!
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