KARACHI: Life is hard if you’re a woman in Pakistan but it’s even more hard if you’re a woman AND a journalist. In case you’re planning to pursue this career, be mindful that tharkis and misogynists will close in on you much more than you’d like. Using real life examples that we’ve witnessed ourselves, or have seen our colleagues go through, here are a few things to look out for if you’re a budding journalist.
1. People will call you a feminazi
Because you’re an opinionated woman, and any woman with an opinion has to be a man-hating feminazi.
2. Tharkis will go apeshit on you
Dirty texts, asking for sexual favours, sexually harassing you in public, you name it.
3. You’ll get mansplained … A LOT
Doesn’t matter if you’re the editor of a publication, there will be some man around who’ll claim to know your work better than you
4. You’ll have to worry about your clothes all the time
As a journalist, you’ll probably be going to spend a lot of time on the streets and catching rickshaws to get to press conferences and protests. You’ll always have to stress over what to wear and what’s appropriate for what occasion.
5. You’ll have to listen to a lot of abuse online
That’s true for male journalists as well, but women get abused a tad bit more