Right of way for Westerners only

[ghazi52]

Right of way for Westerners only

Recently, a photo of Cynthia Ritchie, an American documentary director/producer based in Pakistan, riding a cycle in Peshawar went viral, with captions appreciating representation of the country in a positive light.

Pakistani feminists and cyclists have multiple issues with this portrayal by the white lady in question.

Pakistanis have a tendency to bend over backwards in their attempts to facilitate Westerners, an effort that lies somewhere between hospitality and a serious post-colonial inferiority complex.

Added to Cynthia’s privilege, the photo is performative to the extent of being cringeworthy. No pedestrian or bystander is in sight as she pedals with ease.

The photo is in no way representative of the concerns and struggles of Pakistani women’s attempts to reclaim public space.

To attack Cynthia for completely lacking self awareness about her privileges would be unfair on my part and, instead, I choose to assume positive intent.

Her experience deserves depiction but the attempt to turn it into how liberated women in Pakistan are left me scratching my head.















Cynthia D. Ritchie

✔@CynthiaDRitchie
https://twitter.com/CynthiaDRitchie/status/759853959305494528

Traveling through the #Punjab on #DiscoLaari crazy cool bus. #ShukriyaPakistan

https://twitter.com/intent/like?tweet_id=759853959305494528



A white woman pedaling a cycle, sitting on the driving seat in a rickshaw and posing next to a truck in a dupatta is how Pakistan will be seen positively by the world? Is this really how low we set the bar for Westerners?

And why are Pakistani women fighting for their rights at the receiving end of so much vitriol? Why is only an image of a white woman on a cycle celebrated for showing a positive Pakistan?

 

[Menace2Society]

Nothing wrong with treating your guests well. Pakistan needs all the positive press it can get till stops looking like shanty town.

 

[ghazi52]

Women on bikes have right of way in Pakistan. But only if they are white

Noor Rahman

A girl carrying a poster at a bike rally.

I have been an avid cyclist for over three years and on my cycle, have explored areas of Lahore I would have never seen otherwise.

Needless to say, it is one of my favourite pastimes and has added a lot of positivity to my life.

I quickly realised that this feeling of liberation was something I wanted to share with other women and have since been advocating for the cause and have been managing a group of female cyclists known as Girls on Bikes.

Now, all of that sounds great and has received its fair share of media attention. But, the fact of the matter is that pictures never portray the effort it takes for Pakistani women to get on the road and the strength they need to stay on it.

Misogyny on wheels

In March 2017, I had my first terrifying brush with street harassment while cycling.

“Zara smile to karo na, meri taraf hi dekh lo”, he kept insisting from behind as I pedaled, legs shaking, through the residential streets in the posh Cavalry Ground area.

Petrified at the prospect of him intercepting me or ramming his motorbike into my cycle, I decided to stay mum and ignore him completely.

Of course, this did not deter the slimy person in the least. He continued: “Hum baat to kar sakte hain na, tum mute ho gaee ho, koi jawab to do”.

I turned towards Cantt., hoping he would disappear. Flustered, I told the army men at the check post that a man on a motorbike was harassing me.

It made no difference; the miscreant dodged the guards and went straight ahead.

He continued to follow me for another kilometre, spewing filth in broad daylight in one of the most heavily monitored areas of the city.

What I faced was actually nothing compared to what happened to two other women cyclists I know.

On separate occasions, the women were purposely rammed into by groups of men in their vehicles.

The incidents occurred in the upscale Defence Housing Authority and, in both cases, the perpetrators walked away scot-free, leaving the cyclists injured and traumatised.

Street harassment in Pakistan is a serious concern. Women are groped and catcalled regardless of age or clothing.

A female cyclist is the most vulnerable. While on a cycle, all four limbs are engaged and do not easily allow for any action like reaching for a cell phone and, due to slower speed, make it harder to flee the scene.

Harassment is the main factor preventing women from stepping out and also the reason why families are unsupportive of girls taking up cycling.

Harassment does not stop here; it transitions from streets to social media, where photos of Pakistani girls on cycles receive torrential abuse from mostly men.

Moreover, the availability of cycles is also a problem; the old cycle market at Neela Gumbad sells low quality bikes for exorbitant prices.

There is a niche market for buying and selling (often smuggled) cycles online through Facebook groups.

Nonetheless, finding a good cycle is difficult and quite heavy on the pocket with basic models starting at Rs15,000 and high-end racing cycles costing up to a million rupees.

Given these limitations, women comprise between 10% to 20% of the already small cycling community in Pakistan.

Yet, I can safely say that the number of women interested in the activity is growing and even the ones who have faced harassment have not let the experience stop them.

Noor Rahman is an urban cyclist and founder of the Girls on Bikes initiative in Lahore. She graduated from Lums in 2016 and is working in the development sector.

 

[war&peace]

I really don't see why riding a bike is a taboo for girls. There is no such ban from the government and I have seen girls bicycling in Pakistan but it is rare. I remember me and my sister used to bicycle around in Islamabad and Multan on our BMX cycles.

 

[Zibago]

Right of way for Westerners only

Recently, a photo of Cynthia Ritchie, an American documentary director/producer based in Pakistan, riding a cycle in Peshawar went viral, with captions appreciating representation of the country in a positive light.

Pakistani feminists and cyclists have multiple issues with this portrayal by the white lady in question.

Pakistanis have a tendency to bend over backwards in their attempts to facilitate Westerners, an effort that lies somewhere between hospitality and a serious post-colonial inferiority complex.

Added to Cynthia’s privilege, the photo is performative to the extent of being cringeworthy. No pedestrian or bystander is in sight as she pedals with ease.

The photo is in no way representative of the concerns and struggles of Pakistani women’s attempts to reclaim public space.

To attack Cynthia for completely lacking self awareness about her privileges would be unfair on my part and, instead, I choose to assume positive intent.

Her experience deserves depiction but the attempt to turn it into how liberated women in Pakistan are left me scratching my head.















Cynthia D. Ritchie

✔@CynthiaDRitchie

Traveling through the #Punjab on #DiscoLaari crazy cool bus. #ShukriyaPakistan




A white woman pedaling a cycle, sitting on the driving seat in a rickshaw and posing next to a truck in a dupatta is how Pakistan will be seen positively by the world? Is this really how low we set the bar for Westerners?

And why are Pakistani women fighting for their rights at the receiving end of so much vitriol? Why is only an image of a white woman on a cycle celebrated for showing a positive Pakistan?

Um Pakistani women do all the things mentioned above dont get the controversy dawn is angry because she disagrees with ptm

 

[war&peace]

Um Pakistani women do all the things mentioned above dont get the controversy dawn is angry because she disagrees with ptm

Exactly, she is pretty pro-Pakistan ... which the traitors of Dawn cannot tolerate..
I think most of women in Pakistan can ride a bicycle but it is a taboo to ride a bicycle if you belong to middle and upper classes...quite an oxymoronic state of mind.

 

[Zibago]

I think most of women in Pakistan can ride a bicycle but it is a taboo to ride a bicycle if you belong to middle and upper classes...quite an oxymoronic state of mind.

Nah only for middle classes upper class women can and do break societal norms

 

[war&peace]

Nah only for middle classes upper class women can and do break societal norms

I think it has to do this inferiority complex prevailing in our society so driving a car is considered "elite" or privileged so we see a lot women driving cars even though they are the worst possible drivers and a 15-years old boy can drive better than them but still they do but riding a bicycle is derided upon since we are still living in the colonial slave mindset. While in Europe riding a bicycle or a driving a MayBach has nothing to do with your financial status.

 

[Indus Pakistan]

Nothing wrong with treating your guests well. Pakistan needs all the positive press it can get till stops looking like shanty town.

Typical Dawn, giving fellatio to it's Ganga readers to up their hits. What exactly would they want? Her to be dragged, beaten, raped?

 

[Zibago]

Typical Dawn, giving fellatio to it's ganga readers to up their hits. What exactly would they want? Her to be dragged, beaten, raped?

Smelly old cunts will target anyone who speaks for Pakistan fuk em and their degenerate financers

 

[Indus Pakistan]

Smelly old cunts will target anyone who speaks for Pakistan fuk em and their degenerate financers

All I need to know is she speaks good of Pakistan. And every drop helps against the cascade of negativity that is heaped on Pakistan. Instead these cnuts want to go all philosophical on it likre this some suburban British town full of left leaning university faculties and other do gooders. It's Pakistan for Pete's sakes.

And this further exposes the disease Pakistani's suffer - call it westernitis. If this female was Turkish, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Singaporean exactly the same would have happened. So can we get over this 'westernistis' victimhood.

 

[Yankee-stani]

Typical Dawn, giving fellatio to it's Ganga readers to up their hits. What exactly would they want? Her to be dragged, beaten, raped?

Dawn was pretty decent paper until several years ago what happen did a ownership change over was it bought by a big media company out there.

All I need to know is she speaks good of Pakistan. And every drop helps against the cascade of negativity that is heaped on Pakistan. Instead these cnuts want to go all philosophical on it likre this some suburban British town full of left leaning university faculties and other do gooders. It's Pakistan for Pete's sakes.

And this further exposes the disease Pakistani's suffer - call it westernitis. If this female was Turkish, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Singaporean exactly the same would have happened. So can we get over this 'westernistis' victimhood.

Well to Pakistani wealthy urban class newspaper writers like this would prefer to talk about how LGBTQ is great why Pakistan should legalize this crap while our country is still broke f...ck them I want more tourists to come from wherever so we dont see the same crappy image we get these days

 

[Fawadqasim1]

Typical Dawn, giving fellatio to it's Ganga readers to up their hits. What exactly would they want? Her to be dragged, beaten, raped?

Absolutely sir

 

[KediKesenFare3]

Typical Dawn, giving fellatio to it's Ganga readers to up their hits. What exactly would they want? Her to be dragged, beaten, raped?

Smelly old cunts will target anyone who speaks for Pakistan fuk em and their degenerate financers

When did Dawn become so strange? I always thought they're critical of Pakistan's current state but more in a supportive way with good intentions.

 

[lastofthepatriots]

It is true though. Many Pakistanis even on this forum suffer from inferiority complex from whites.