Monthly Archives: November 2011

When women became professionals

By Zubeida Mustafa

‘A woman in a man’s world!’ That is how working women, my contemporaries in the 1960s, were described. We chose to give up the comfort zone of our homes to crash into a preserve dominated by professionals. Since these professionals happened to be men (except in the fields of teaching and medicine where the female presence was pretty visible) it required us to break the gender barrier as well. Yet we regarded ourselves foremost as professionals.

(Front Row) Hasan Abidi, Chappra , M.A. Qayyum, M.A. Shakoor, Ahmed Ali Khan, Mohsin Ali, Habib Khan Ghouri; (2nd row, left to right) Fazal Imam, Ghayurul Islam, Zubeida Mustafa, M.A. Majid, Saleem Asmi, M.B. Naqvi; (3rd row, left tor ight) Hazoor Ahmad Shah, M.J. Zahedi, M.H. Askari, Salahuddin, Iqbal Jafri - Karachi Press Club, 1994 (photo provided by the writer)

We were also seen as bulls in a china shop Continue reading When women became professionals