Azeemah Saleem
FEARLESS: STORIES OF AMAZING WOMEN FROM PAKISTAN by Amneh Shaikh-Farooqui. Illustrations by Aziza Ahmad Penguin/ Random House, 2020, pp., 399.00
November 2020, volume 44, No 11

On the eve of International Women’s Day, Aurat March movement in Pakistan sparked women’s voice throughout Pakistan to end violence and harassment against women and change the attitude towards the traditional patriarchal norms of society. The social, cultural and political fabric of Pakistani society had predominately been patriarchal, therefore, exacerbating the condition of women. The undiscovered stories of women breaking social, cultural and political barriers encourage the women of Pakistan to live a passionate and dignified life. Amneh Shaikh-Farooqui, in her book Fearless, creates an inspirational awareness for women through her fifty ground-breaking stories of Pakistani women and organizations, who carved a meaningful existence of their own within male-dominated professions. It is a tale of inspiring women who crossed various fences to achieve their dreams.

Fearless is a compilation of stories of the women, by a woman, for the women. The book is an antithesis to continuous consumption of western construct and aesthetics of women, fed through the mainstream media. The book explores various unheard and unread Pakistani women actively participating in encouraging women’s rights, human rights, and humanitarian aid in social, economic and political aspects of the society. It demonstrates the fearless girls and women changing their society by hitting at the core of patriarchal norms. The content of the book is arranged in a chronological order of their birth, along with an indication of various political and constitutional events; such as 1946 elections, right to vote, reservation of seat in the Parliament in 1956, law to protect women and property rights, constitutional freedom from any form of discrimination, law on dowry and marriage, 1979 Hudood Ordinance, Qisas and Diyat law, Ordinance of 1984, laws on acid crime and the most recent, Aurat March in 2018.

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