"I believe that a woman has her distinct essence."
Javed Sheikh has spoken about the ‘Mera Jism Meri Marzi’ movement and has said that he is against the slogan.
Speaking to Adnan Faisal on the FHM Pakistan podcast, Javed elaborated:
“I am against ‘Mera Jism Meri Marzi’. If you ask me, it isn’t even proper for girls to say this like it’s my choice to do whatever I want.
“It is an Islamic country, you are born in a Muslim household. You come from a family.”
Following his statement, Adnan pointed out that the slogan was created in an attempt to raise awareness over touching someone without consent and that this applied to both males and females.
Javed responded: “I disagree with this, it is just my opinion.
“Surely we live in very modern times now but I believe that a woman has her distinct essence.
“There is a sense of modesty about her. In my opinion, the more a woman is covered, the more beautiful she is.”
Adnan argued that in a society where girls are more open to wearing Western attire, the old-school thinking of traditional wear is not possible anymore.
Javed said the culture made people think and dress like this, but his thought process was different.
‘Mera Jism Meri Marzi’ was introduced during an Aurat March in 2018 after Pakistani feminists came together to say they had a right to say who was and was not allowed to touch them.
As the years have passed, feminist organisers and activists have continued to raise their voices in an attempt to raise awareness about gender-based violence and consent for female education.
However, Javed Sheikh is not the only celebrity to raise his concerns about the slogan.
Faysal Qureshi has also recently shared his opinion and deemed the slogan to have become comedic.
Faysal stated: “People have distorted ‘Mera Jism Meri Marzi’ into a joke!
“It is about consent. I am a man but even I expect regard for my consent.”
“Yes, our religion says that when men call their wives [for intimacy], they are obliged to go, but there is a certain reason.
“There are a lot of things that precede such a demand that men are obliged to fulfil first and that includes the five prayers, charity and earning through the right means.
“You haven’t learned that but you have fixated on one particular thing.”
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