1. Skip to content
  2. Skip to main menu
  3. Skip to more DW sites

Stand-up against sexism - Pakistan's female comedians

July 8, 2023

Comedy in Pakistan has always been a male-dominated space. Men are allowed to crack jokes, show off, or be crude. Enter female comedians.

https://p.dw.com/p/4TcEr

They get cast as mothers, daughters or mothers-in-law - rather than playing individuals, women are limited to caricatures. Amtul wants to change this, which is why she has joined the Khawatoons group. "Khawatoons” is a play on the Urdu word for women, "khawateen”, and "cartoons”. In the group, all the roles are played by women, who carefully test the boundaries of what can be said in Pakistan’s comedy clubs. The performers feel that challenging topics, including sexual violence, abortion and gender relations, have their place in comedy. A report by Vanessa Juercke.

Skip next section About the show

About the show

DW Reporter Sendungslogo

Reporter — On Location

DW’s on-the-ground reporters are always close to the action, be it covering international events or zooming in on some of the quirks of daily life. Camera always in hand, they report on the changes they see taking place in Germany, Europe and around the world.