Most Common Taboos of Pakistani Society

Most Common Taboos of Pakistani Society

Taboos are extreme social prohibitions directly related to human activities and are considered prohibitions. These sacred and forbidden human activities are based on moral judgment and religious beliefs. Anyone who tries to break the taboo is regarded as a heretic or hater by society.

Taboos are social or cultural prohibitions on behavior. Although the behavior may not be illegal or punishable, it is a serious object of mockery. People who grew up in this culture are unlikely to take such actions and are likely to judge people who despise taboos.

The term was originally a Polynesian word (taboo). Captain James Cook introduced it to English in 1771. The original word was used to describe the prohibition of contact with people, animals, or objects.

Every culture has certain taboo behaviors. Food, clothing, body function, and dating are common topics. Sometimes, these taboos are based on religious beliefs. Prohibited behaviors can be taught explicitly, or taboos can be learned based on other cultural values. Some examples of taboos include:

  • In many Jewish and Muslim communities, people are prohibited from eating pork.
  • In Western cultures that value youth, women’s age is often frustrating.
  • In certain Polynesian societies, people are prohibited from touching the shadow of the chief.
  • In some societies, certain taboos are already written in law. However, taboos are more common social taboos (especially in industrialized societies).
  • Different cultures have different taboos, and the social norms of one culture may be another taboo.

However, some anthropologists believe that certain behaviors are generally taboo. These may include incest, cannibalism, and killing of parents. Psychiatrist Sigmund Freud (Sigmund Freud) believes these may be universal taboos.

Since the establishment of Pakistan, various taboos have become part of society. In Pakistan, many taboos must be considered and emphasized because these issues are hidden or ignored.

List of Common Taboos in Pakistani Society

  • Dealing with Mental Health
  • Talking about Sexual violence/harassment/ divorce,
  • Transgender community
  • Failure

List of Taboos Regarding Women in Pakistani Society

  • Women riding Motorbike/Bicycle
  • Doing Field Work
  • Women running Grocery Store

List of Taboos Regarding Males in Pakistani Society

  • Female Silence on Male Issues
  • Relationship between Father-son
  • Being Fashionable or having emotions

Here are a few details about each taboo in Pakistani society.

Mental health

Dealing-with-Mental-Health

Dealing-with-Mental-Health

In Pakistan, there is a society that regards mental health considerations as embarrassment or pretending to attract attention. Although, a study shows that one in five people suffers from stress or depression. But it does not matter. Being a consulting psychiatrist or psychologist is considered taboo. Unfortunately, nearly half of the population is illiterate, and only 20% to 30% of the population is highly qualified. Mental health is the most neglected part of Pakistan.

Divorce

Divorce

Divorce

Marriage is a beautiful relationship, but when the marriage cannot be resolved, divorce is a better choice than troubles hurting the other’s existence. But in Pakistan, regardless of whether people are hurt or not, people believe that he will tolerate and persist in this harmful relationship. Even the religious beliefs of a country allow divorce. In this country, divorced persons are completely rejected by society and lose respect. This is Pakistan’s dilemma, among which divorce in the name of “prestige” is taboo.

Sexual violence

Talking-about-Sexual-Voilence

Talking-about-Sexual-Violence

Thousands of cases of sexual assault are hidden because it is so taboo to speak up on such issues. In Pakistan, there is a society in which rape cases are hidden to save the girl’s “face” instead of sending the offender to prison. Also, there is the painful fact that the victim is the cause of sexual assault. Many things happen every year, but their family members shut their mouths to protect their so-called “prestige.” Due to taboos, these criminals continue to be outdoors.

Transgender

Transgender-community

Transgender-community

If a transgender person was born into any family, that particular family or mother is stigmatized. This taboo does not allow transgender people to let their lives live normally but sends them to certain designated areas to let them live with other transgender people. They especially make themselves feel discriminated against and unacceptable by society.

Failure

Loser in Life

Loser in Life

Failure still carries a negative connotation. Many people in the workplace think it is taboo to discuss failure with colleagues, especially their supervisors. Failure is not necessarily a dirty word. In fact, now is the time to celebrate the F word!

In a recent study we conducted, we found that using failure as an expected component of a company can increase company profits, increase creativity, and even build trust in employees. Why? Because when people try to innovate and grow, they fail.

People don’t like failure and don’t even discuss failure. Still, when an organization rethinks how employees handle failure and treats it as part of growth, it can bring benefits to employees, the entire company, and stakeholders. It is time for us to realize that we must fail.

Dong Fieldwork

Women doing feildwork

Women doing fieldwork

For women, doing fieldwork is taboo. However, there is a tendency in our society to undermine scholars on the grounds of taking root in capitalism. Especially between relatives, family, friends, and colleagues who made the following comment: “This is not a woman’s job.” she will not be able to resist under the harsh conditions of fieldwork.” “How will you maintain your house when doing this kind of work? “Although a male researcher is regarded as a facilitator, anyone can open any door at any level, but it is generally regarded as very fragile and requires the support and support of a third party.

Talking about Taboo Regarding Men 

Several major periods of silence hindered discussions about most men.

It is worth noting that the widespread discussion about the happiness of boys and men immediately shifted from focusing on men to talking about women, especially the relationship between men and women (Divorce, child custody battle). Perhaps equally important, discussions about most men are usually only about men. When taking care of men as the subject, it is strange that women are silent.

Female Silence on Male Issues

The first and foremost taboo regarding Males is female silence when it is important to talk about the good things about boys and men. You will never find women talking about the male problem and sharing their side of the story. Instead, when talking about children, people will only hear “problems”, and when talking about men, they will only hear “defects.” The most important thing at this time is that both men and women include a positive male orientation in their “story”.

Female Silence on Male Issues

Female Silence on Male Issues

As some people suggest, this does not mean that negative female postures appear at the same time. This just means that we are allowed to describe the strengths of most men and not the few men who exhaust most of their lives or even very few who do terrible things to women and attract media attention.

Relationship Between Father-Son

When referring to the relationship between men, assume that they have a gender basis. However, you only need to read Plato, Montaigne, and Emerson to realize that relationships have always been important for boys and men. The father-son relationship is considered basic, but in adolescence, the importance of deep trust between friends and the establishment of men met in school. The bond is strong and lasting in high school or university, and it is also very important.

Relationship-Between-Father-Son

Relationship-Between-Father-Son

Being Fashionable

In South Asian countries, especially Pakistan, society is more patriarchal and chauvinistic than in other countries. Why not consider fashion as something people can or should associate with? This makes sense. The growth of boys and young people usually makes fashion taboo, while men who like to dress up become wanderers in society.

Gentle and being Fashionable

Gentle and being Fashionable

Final Words

Try not to forget that every religion promotes humanity. Hence, we concluded the fact that social taboos are an important part of social norms and are protected by cultural and custom sanctions that make people accustomed to customs and learn to live in society.

However, some of the taboos must be addressed as the religion said, no need to add or remove clauses as per someone’s own will. It should be embedded as the religion says.

Also, the way to bust myths and remove taboos from society is to educate the lowest class. As they are the pillars of forming any nation.

I hope this article brings information to your taste. If you like it, please comment your thoughts in the comment section below. I love to hear from your side.

Saba Ghani
Saba Ghani

Since 2017, Saba Ghani has been serving as the talented and dedicated chief content writer for Pakistan Tour and Travel & EMHI Solutions. With her exceptional writing skills and in-depth knowledge of the travel industry, she has been instrumental in crafting engaging and informative content that captivates the audience. You can catch her at [email protected] or Twitter

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