A discussion on 'A Woman like Her: Qandeel, Celebrity, and Posthumous Legacy in 21st Century Pakistan'

March 6, 2019: The SSLA department, IBA conducted a talk
titled A Woman like Her: Qandeel, Celebrity, and Posthumous
Legacy in 21st Century Pakistan. The session was conducted by
the author of the book A Woman Like Her: The Short Life of Qandeel Baloch, Sanam Maher and SSLA faculty Palvashay Sethi.
The event was attended by Chairperson SSLA Dr. Faiza Muhtaq,
SSLA faculty Dr. Naveen Minai and Dr. Laila Farooq and students.
The talk revolved around the image of Qandeel who was hailed as
a feminist icon but also called promiscuous. Maher walked the
audience through her thought process when she was writing the
book. She discussed a number of challenges she faced with
regards to how she wanted to tell the real story of Qandeel, but
not the one that the cannibalistic audience wanted. She also
struggled through the idea of whether she was the right person
to tell Qandeel’s story in the first place, and what kind of
audience she will be catering to. Finally, she decided that
Qandeel’s story was important to tell in order to explore what
it meant for us as a society.
The conversation also delved into how creating safe spaces for
individuals who do not conform to societal norms is of utmost
important because of the lack of acceptance within the society.
Maher also mentioned how the government needs to become part of
the practice since activists can only do so much by existing
within the confines of stringent and unprogressive institutional
practices.
The discussion then went on to understand that authors come from
a role of privilege, and to use that privilege in the right
manner can be tricky when creating awareness of the marginalised.
Concluding the event, an engaging Q&A session took place between
the author and the speakers.