Alizeh Shah gets flak for doing things other people (read: men) can do with impunity

Every few months the internet gets outraged over Alizeh Shah — not something she says and rarely something she does but her existence and insistence on living her life the way she pleases.

Take today, for example. Today people are angry because someone invaded Shah's privacy and filmed her smoking in a car. Has this virtuous watchdog of Pakistani culture and morals been called out for blatantly invading someone's privacy and filming that someone without their consent? Of course not, that's not how this works.

How does it work, you will then ask. Well, the formula goes something like this — Alizeh Shah exists and people get mad. Alizeh Shah wears a dress at an event where hundreds of other women wear dresses and people are angry. Alizeh Shah cuts her hair short and people are furious. Alizeh Shah sets boundaries at her workplace and people are infuriated. Alizeh Shah wears a tank-top and people lose their minds.

The pattern here is that people will get mad no matter what Alizeh Shah does, so she should continue doing what she wants.

We're not going to comment on what she's wearing or smoking or doing but we will say this — she's getting a lot of flak for doing things that other people (read: men) can do with impunity. For some reason, the fact that Alizeh Shah is doing this antagonises people to no end. Look at the video of her smoking, for example. No one seems concerned that this 21-year-old was filmed at a traffic light by a random person or that she's been made into a poster child for the pitfalls of the entertainment industry. Let's stop using Shah as a punching bag.

2021 is drawing to a close and one thing we definitely hope people will leave behind is stalking celebrities and then having the stunning lack of awareness to pass judgement on them. Let's leave this judgemental behaviour behind this year and look forward to a shiny new year where, hopefully, we just judge actors based on their acting rather than their personal lives.