Dear male colleagues, Sherry Rehman has a message for you

Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Vice President and Parliamentary leader Sherry Rehman has highlighted a very common and a misogynistic issue women face in the workplace.

In her latest post on X (formerly Twitter), Rehman alluded to male professionals in Pakistan who discriminate in their manner of addressing female colleagues.

“I am sorry but I cannot allow myself to be called only “Sherry” if the colleagues next to me are called so and so sahibs along with their full names as a mark of respect.

I have no problem if you call me Sherry if you are calling my other male colleagues by their first names too”, she pointed out.

While men in workplaces are commonly referred to as ‘Sir,’ ‘Sahab,’ or by their full name out of respect for their professional status or simply their gender, women, on the other hand, are mostly called by their first name or derogatorily as ‘larki’ or ‘bibi,’ etc.

While professionally, calling someone by their first name is not inherently wrong, using more socially respectful language for men compared to women makes the practice sexist.

This lack of courtesy traditionally stems from the patriarchal idea of deeming women as intellectually and professionally inferior.