• About Us
  • The TFT Story
  • Team
  • Write for TFT
  • Online advertisement tariff
  • Donate To Us
Wednesday, May 18, 2022
  • Home
  • Editorials
  • News
  • Analysis
  • Features
  • Spotlight
  • Videos
  • Citizens’ Voice
  • Lifestyle
  • Editor’s Picks
  • Good Times
  • More
    • About Us
    • Team
    • Write for TFT
    • The TFT Story
    • Donate To Us
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Editorials
  • News
  • Analysis
  • Features
  • Spotlight
  • Videos
  • Citizens’ Voice
  • Lifestyle
  • Editor’s Picks
  • Good Times
  • More
    • About Us
    • Team
    • Write for TFT
    • The TFT Story
    • Donate To Us
No Result
View All Result
No Result
View All Result
Home Lifestyle

Why Does Women’s Labour During Eid Festivities Go Unappreciated?

How about an Eid where no woman has to miss out on the festivities just because there is something on the stove that is holding her (and only her) back?

Khadija Muzaffar by Khadija Muzaffar
May 4, 2022
in Lifestyle, Features
Why Does Women’s Labour During Eid Festivities Go Unappreciated?
75
SHARES
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

The tradition of Eid invokes a feeling of warm familiarity in most people that includes memories of a grandparent’s house, the coming together of families, tables laden with steaming hot food, all add to the imagery of the occasion. There’s something about waking up knowing that a dish of sweet Sheer Khurma is waiting for you, made lovingly by your mother, wife or sister. (Because men in the family do not concern themselves with cooking and serving the guests — it’s the women who are supposed to look after the kitchen.)

To us it’s just a bowl of vermicelli and dry fruit tenderly stewed in milk till all the flavors break down their barriers and become one. But to someone in charge of making the quintessential Eid dessert, it involves a night full of hard work, from individually toasting the vermicelli, nuts and fruit, to letting them stew in milk for hours, work that often begins the night before, while everyone else is busy celebrating Chaand Raat.

It doesn’t end there. Women, who are often in charge of managing and cooking for the Eid feasts, must juggle the preparation of multiple dishes at once, all to be served to their families with the biggest smile on their faces on the day of Eid. In the course of Eid traditions, and perhaps even Ramzan traditions, this becomes quite the thankless labor, which is taken for granted year after year.

Many in our society think it is a woman’s duty to cook for her family, without acknowledging the amount of labor that goes into it. From waking up early from sleep every day at Sehri time in Ramzan, to slaving in front of a hot stove, frying pakoras and cutting fruit and making drinks at Iftaar, all the while fasting herself, to being expected to plan and execute elaborate Eid luncheons the very next day, is no small feat. Or how on Eid-ul-Azha, women are the ones in charge of portioning, cleaning and distributing the meat. It’s a man’s world, but somehow the woman gets all the work.

For women, chaand raat festivities are marred by fears of street harassment

And even outside the physical labor that the kitchen demands of a woman, if she goes out to take part in the Chaand Raat celebrations, she cannot enjoy the same freedom as a man, because the risk of cat-calling and harassment is all too real, especially during festivals like Eid. Crowded market places and shopping centers serve as the ideal place for harassers to make women uncomfortable, a task they unfortunately excel at.

To confine yourself to a stuffy, hot kitchen, working tirelessly to ensure your family gets to enjoy a wonderful Eid meal appears to be the fate of almost every woman in the country. The invisibility of this labor is highlighted even more when we see our fathers, husbands, brothers and uncles get to sit back and bicker over who gets the TV remote, feet up, not a care in the world. To watch the men of your family be so oblivious to the labor you put in for their enjoyment is never fun.

Every year around the time Ramzan, and then Eid-ul-Fitr rolls around, I am reminded of this fact. How the women in my family, myself included, are subjected to a seemingly endless cycle of 3 AM Sehri preparations, Iftars spent in front of a vat of hot oil, toasted nuts and fruits turned into Sheer Khurma, a seven course Eid luncheon, and then cups and cups of never-ending tea. All while the men get to laze and lounge and talk shop and politics, clueless to how hot the kitchen can really get during the months of April and May.

It is about time men realised the importance of stepping up and sharing the load instead of just glamorising the struggle the women in their family go through. How about an Eid where no woman has to miss out on the festivities just because there is something on the stove that is holding her (and only her) back? An Eid where men are appreciative of everything women do, not just on Eid, but every day, to make their lives smoother and easier.

Also Read:

Justice Cornelius Remains A Figure Of Inspiration For Pakistan’s Judiciary

Sikh Traders Killed In Cold Blood Had Recently Moved To Peshawar In Hopes Of Finding Safety

Tags: eidEid-ul-Fitreid feasteid lunchinvisible labor of womenwomen labor on eidwomen labor ramzan
Previous Post

Another Girl Who Went Missing From Karachi Found In Punjab

Next Post

Stature And Worldview: Muhammad Ali Jinnah And Imran Khan Stand Poles Apart

Khadija Muzaffar

Khadija Muzaffar

Next Post

Without Genuine Democracy, Anarchy Will Remain Part And Parcel Of Pakistan's Politics

Comments 2

  1. Allaisa says:
    2 weeks ago

    All this for what purpose? The best thing is stop this show of sehri and iftaar.

    Reply
  2. Khaula Atif says:
    2 weeks ago

    Good piece. I would love to hear what boys of this generation think and feel about it.

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Search

No Result
View All Result

Recent News

Justice Cornelius Remains A Figure Of Inspiration For Pakistan’s Judiciary

Justice Cornelius Remains A Figure Of Inspiration For Pakistan’s Judiciary

May 18, 2022
How Recruitment Heists And Nepotism Destroy The Quality Of Pakistan’s Human Resources

How Recruitment Heists And Nepotism Destroy The Quality Of Pakistan’s Human Resources

May 18, 2022
Imran Urges SC To Hear PM Shehbaz’s Corruption Cases After Article 63-A Verdict

Imran Urges SC To Hear PM Shehbaz’s Corruption Cases After Article 63-A Verdict

May 17, 2022

Twitter

Donate Us

Subscribe
The Friday Times – Naya Daur

News and views which are not fit to print.


The Friday Times is Pakistan’s first independent weekly, founded in 1989. In 2021, the publication went into collaboration with digital news platform Naya Daur Media to publish under a daily cycle.


Social Media

Latest News

  • All
  • News
  • Editorials
  • Features
  • Analysis
  • Lifestyle
Justice Cornelius Remains A Figure Of Inspiration For Pakistan’s Judiciary

Justice Cornelius Remains A Figure Of Inspiration For Pakistan’s Judiciary

by Tariq Aqil
May 18, 2022
0

Three great luminaries of Pakistan’s superior judiciary are...

How Recruitment Heists And Nepotism Destroy The Quality Of Pakistan’s Human Resources

How Recruitment Heists And Nepotism Destroy The Quality Of Pakistan’s Human Resources

by Ali Hassan Bangwar
May 18, 2022
0

The dream of inclusive social development will not...

Follow Us on Instagram

Follow

    The Instagram Access Token is expired, Go to the Customizer > JNews : Social, Like & View > Instagram Feed Setting, to refresh it.
  • About Us
  • The TFT Story
  • Team
  • Write for TFT
  • Online advertisement tariff
  • Donate To Us

© 2022 All Rights Reserved.

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Editorials
  • News
  • Analysis
  • Features
  • Spotlight
  • Videos
  • Citizens’ Voice
  • Lifestyle
  • Editor’s Picks
  • Good Times
  • More
    • About Us
    • Team
    • Write for TFT
    • The TFT Story
    • Donate To Us

© 2022 All Rights Reserved.

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In

Add New Playlist