Always wear Hijab (Veil), cover yourself from head to toe, wear sun- glasses, always look front and back to make sure all is well with your clothes. These are the few pieces of advice, which every Pakistani mother give to their daughters, before sending them to school, collegues, or shopping centres.The purpose of all that is to protect them from staring.
Staring is indeed, one of the problems faced by Pakistani women daily. It’s a common practice here, to stare at every woman/girl. Although most of the women/girls are the victim of filthy eyes, but the university-going female students, traveling by public transport, are very soft targets for the piercing eyes. “It’s very difficult for me to stand at the bus stop, and face the dirty eyes”, said a ravishing student. ”I loathe those men who stare at me”; a girl standing nearby expressed her anger. Not only students, but also house wives are also fedup of eye-balling. “When someone stares at me, I feel as if I were undressed by their eyes”, a house wife registered her hatred.

On the other hand, the opposite gender has a totally different view. Most of them defend their act. “There is nothing wrong in appreciating the beauty by just having a glimpse of it”, said a university student. A 45 years old taxi driver supported the student by saying, “I don’t cross my limits,but sometimes I stare at them with the help of the front mirror”.

Though women/girls are no match for men/boys in staring, yet there are some who can give though time for their male counterparts in the eye-balling competition. “I not only stare at men, but also allow them to have an eye contact with me”, said a teenaged girl in a hilarious way. “I’m fond of gawking at handsome men”, a highly fashionable lady said.

Eye-balling at each other, is a common problem around the globe, but the reasons behind this act is as clear as mud. Some people think that men do it because women seem very beautiful to them.
In addition to that provocative dresses also play an equal role in drawing men’s attention towards the opposite gender. Striking and sexy dresses raise erotic thoughts in men. Scientific experiments have proved that men’s blood testosterone level increases when exposed to sexually explicit pictures.

Factors like provocative costumes, gorgeousness, exchange of smile etc can be held responsible for eye-balling, yet the riddle remains un-solved. Even in the absence of the above-mentioned factors, most of the men don’t try to keep their eyes away from women/girls. Saima Khan, a Public Relationship Officer, at a local bank complained, “Although I always wear Hijaab (Veil) and cover myself from head to toe, yet most of my male colleagues and by-passers blatantly gape at me”.

There are many reasons and justifications for eye-balling, but it’s considered disrespectful in almost all the societies of the world. Staring is a long debatable issue, which always leave many questions answered i.e. what is the satisfaction in this useless activity? Why do men stare? Why women dislike it? How to protect oneself from these filthy eyes?It’s a cry of the day that If Pakistani men can’t give real freedom and equality to women, atleast they shouldn’t add to their miseries by undressing them with their eyes.