A prominent media channel told a pregnant yoga instructor that her recorded segment didn’t make it on air because Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) would have issues with having pregnant women on the show.
Raasti Said Diwan, the 7 months pregnant yoga instructor, was reached out by the media channel to appear on their show’s segment. She was happy about the exposure and agreed to appear on the show. The segment was filmed, and she was told that the segment would air on Monday.
On Monday, when she sat down to watch her segment with her family, the segment never aired. When she investigated, she found out that it was cut. The channel said they cut it out because the regulatory authority would have an issue with a pregnant yoga instructor being on air.
She took it to social media to explain the situation. She said, “the purpose of this post isn’t to add another rant against PEMRA, it’s to acknowledge that the cards are stacked against women, and ignoring that fact or downplaying it doesn’t serve us. I want to be angry, and I want us to all be angry and continue to be angry. I’d rather be angry at something morally incorrect than apathetic to ills around me.”
She then listed how women have been policed all their lives. The system is stacked against women, she said.
“From ‘susraali mahol,’ to the lack of mobility we’ve faced all our lives, to parents regulating our behavior with ‘log Kya kahein ge,’ to labels as ‘too feminist’ or ‘has an issue with everything’ or ‘it’s just like that for women’ when we speak out, to ensure that true feminism remains on the fringes of mainstream society, to PEMRA regulating visuals of pregnancy – the system is stacked against us, and a haha hehe hoohoo doesn’t get us anywhere.”
PEMRA regulating pregnant women’s visuals is gross
She said media doesn’t showcase pregnant women even when it is the most powerful thing a human can do, “Creating and birthing a child is the most powerful thing a human can do, and women do it repeatedly and casually while maintaining careers while caring for other children. It’s a superpower that our media seems to be careful not to showcase.”
Here’s to hoping that pregnant women, too, will get representation.
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