I am not That Woman (Kishwar Naheed)

 

I am not That Woman

                                                   -Kishwar Naheed

I am not that woman
Selling you socks and shoes!
Remember me, I am the one you hid
In your walls of stone, while you roamed
Free as the breeze, not knowing
That my voice cannot be smothered by stones,

I am the one you crushed
With the weight of custom and tradition
Not knowing
That light cannot be hidden in darkness.
Remember me,
I am the one in whose lap
You picked flowers
And planted thorns and embers
Not knowing
That chains cannot smother my fragrance

I am the woman
Whom you bought and sold
In the name of my own chastity
Not knowing
That I can walk on water
When I am drowning.

I am the one you married off
To get rid of a burden
Not knowing
That a nation of captive minds
Cannot be free.

I am the commodity you traded in,
My chastity, my motherhood, my loyalty.
Now it is time for me to flower free.
The woman on that poster, half-naked, selling socks and shoes-
No, no, I am not that woman!

 

Essay

About the Author:

Kishwar Naheed (born in 1940) is an Urdu poet from Pakistan known for her pioneering feminist poetry. Born in Bulandarshah India, Kishwar witnessed the violence associated with Partition. She has published six collections of poems between 1969 and 1990. Her first collection of poetry, Lab-i-Goya, published in 1968 won the prestigious Adamjee Prize for Literature. She also wrote for children. Her poetry has been translated into English and Spanish languages. Kishwar Naheed held the position of Director General of Pakistan National Council of the Arts. She has edited a prestigious literary magazine, Mah-i-naw and has founded organization named Hawwa (Eve) whose goal is to help home-bound women become financially independent through cottage industries.

 

Introduction:

In “I am not That Woman”, Kishwar Naheed vehemently says how women are strangled throughout life – when she is a daughter by her father and brothers, when she is a wife by her husband and in-laws and when she is a mother by her sons.

 

Thought Content:

The poem depicts the life of a tradition-bound woman. It brings about her hardships that she has to go through in her life.  Kishwar presents a fact about Pakistan, where still a son is more valuable than a daughter and the poet realized this truth depicts the pathos in woman’s life. The woman is tripped off her dignity, womanhood, motherhood and freedom. After experiencing hardship, the woman wants for the deserved and refined freedom.

 

In the poem, Kishwar presents her overflowed emotions, sorrows  and frustration. She shows her rebellious attitude against male dominated world where the woman has to struggle a lot to liberate herself from the chains of bondage and to lead a respectable life through this poem. She depicts a very miserable pathetic and tragic picture of the women in this male dominated world, where women are trying to get their lost identity.

 

The poet first addresses her husband who wants her to be too sexy to gratify his sexual thirst. So she says that she is not like the woman who is found on the poster in which she is half-naked. In the name male-domination, he rules her from the position of her husband and controls her to be within the four walls of the house while he walks freely in outside. He thinks that the voice of his wife, probably the poet will not be heard outside the four walls. But the poet is strong that her voice will be heard and it cannot be “smothered by stones”.

 

The poet then addresses her in-laws who in the name of custom and tradition put her in darkness. So she indicts them saying that she is like light which cannot be hidden in darkness. Then she addresses her son who also executes his male domination over her and derogates her motherhood. So she says that he who picks flower, love of his mother from her but put ‘thorns’ on her lap in the name of male-domination. Finally, she addresses her father, who is also like other men-relations looks at her as an object. She is sold in the marriage-market by her father projecting out her chastity. In fact, he readily comes forward to get rid of the burden of holding a grown-up daughter.

 

In Pakistan like patriarchal country grown-up girls are viewed as burden to the parents, especially to their fathers. Understanding the real-intension of the three men in name of her husband, her son and her father associated with the poet, she strongly says that she is not a commodity to be purchased or sold. She is also like other a human being with human emotion and passions. So, she wants to relief herself from the shackle put around her in the name of patriarchy. She wants to “flower free” relieving herself from the clutches of male-domination.

 

Conclusions:

Thus, the poem brings out the hidden potential and rebellious spirit of the speaker, who was once made to submit herself to the will and wish of her oppressor.