Everyone knows who Shahzeb Khanzada is.
Shahzeb Khanzada has made a name for himself by becoming one of Pakistan’s more prominent journalists and television hosts.
Everyone also knows who Mustafa Kamal is.
Once the mayor of Karachi, he is now the current leader of the Pak Sarzameen Party.
And pretty much everyone should know that one of the demons our country battles is blatant sexism and misogyny.
No surprises there. Even in the world of politics and media, this sexism and misogyny are rampant. And these only contribute constantly to the oppression of women.
Whether it’s the constant belittlement of Shireen Mazari…
…the dragging in of her daughter into online debates by addressing her inappropriately – which she effectively shut down…
…shaming television hosts and actresses for their attire…
…or even MNAs like Javed Latif passing crude comments – sexism is very real and still alive.
We just celebrated #womensday yesterday giving lectures on respect/rights and then we have MNAs like Jawed Latif sitting in our Parliament
— M. Jibran Nasir 🇵🇸 (@MJibranNasir) March 9, 2017
Now, recently, Mustafa Kamal was on Shahzeb’s show, discussing politics and the like. That’s where Mustafa Kamal made a grave mistake. He casually slipped a sexist remark during the conversation. However, Shahzeb was quick to call him out for the same.
Mustafa Kamal, while discussing another politician’s behavior, talked about how he was crying like a woman, smashing bangles and shrieking like an eagle. Shahzeb was quick to point out that women should not be referred to in that manner. Mustafa Kamal tried to defend his remark but was shut down by Shahzeb who stated that even men can be weak at times.
Here’s a video that’ll help you see what we mean:
In which @shazbkhanzdaGEO calls out Mustafa Kamal for a sexist comment. Need more interventions like this pic.twitter.com/HqPDZWp8u1
— Saad Sayeed (@Saad_Scrawls) November 14, 2017
As expected, Shahzeb was lauded for shutting down this blatant display of sexism on his show.
Good Shahzeb 👍
— Kashif Zaidi (@skashifzaidi) November 15, 2017
Good job
— Dr. Gul Sher (@dr_gul_sher) November 14, 2017
People are still appreciating Shahzeb for the same, taking to social media to let their appreciation be known.
Well done @shazbkhanzdaGEO, hats off you for having told off Mustafa Kamal on a sexist remark. We must all challenge misogyny and sexism. pic.twitter.com/dGuJ2vyFbK
— Faizan Lakhani (@faizanlakhani) November 14, 2017
Others were glad that Shahzeb made it clear that women are a powerful force as well.
Good interruption of @shazbkhanzdaGEO over sexist remarks on women, we all must follow this trend. Women are a powerful gender too.
— Tayyab Memon (@TayyabMemon) November 14, 2017
Others rightly pointed out that we need more men like Shahzeb Khanzada.
Wah wah … if only we had more men like @shazbkhanzdaGEO https://t.co/mv9aZbPOOx
— Tazeen 🍉 (@tazeen) November 14, 2017
We reached out to Shahzeb for a comment. However, he maintained that his stance had been made clear on-screen. Moreover, he redirected us to the following statement:
Casual sexism is the base of all misogyny; striking at this base is our small and daily attempt to challenge a most imposing structure.
It has always been policy on @GeoASKKS to cut such remarks down to size.
Thanks for the feedback 🙂
cc @shazbkhanzdaGEOhttps://t.co/YTSKlJzycG— Gibran Peshimam (@gibranp) November 14, 2017
When men are in a position of power of any kind, it’s imperative that they empower the oppressed sex by speaking up for them whenever they can. Shahzeb could have easily let the remark slide, but he chose to correct Mustafa Kamal twice. We truly do need more men like Shahzeb Khanzada who aren’t afraid to call people out when they’re in the wrong.
What do you have to say about this? Let us know in the comments.