Afridi Faces Backlash for Saying His Daughters are Forbidden from Playing Outdoor Sports
Shahid Afridi has been making the headlines since his autobiography, "Game Changer" hit the stalls.
This time, he has landed himself in hot soup for his misogynistic comments about his daughters. In his memoir, Afridi describes himself as a conservative Pakistani father, who doesn't want his daughters to play any sort of outdoor sport.
“Cricket? No, not for my girls."
Afridi wrote that his daughters are athletic by nature but they're not allowed to partake in any outdoor sports. He also mentioned that they have "permission" to play any sport as long as it's indoors. Apparently, he arrived at such a decision due to social and religious reasons and that his wife agreed with him. He also declared that he didn't care what feminists thought about his parenting.
Afridi's statements sparked outrage on Twitter, with many slamming him for his insensitive and chauvinistic comments.
One Twitter user wrote, "Shahid Afridi is no better than a typical middle-aged average Pakistani guy, who wouldn’t mind hanging out with someone else’s daughters but would balk if his own did the same(See pic below) Unfortunate statement given Pakistan is a country with its own women’s cricket team."
Another wrote, "Don’t be a Shahid Afridi to your daughter, sister, or wife. Let your women be. Also, it’s alright to have housemaking as a purpose, so if she’s happy doing so, there’s no harm. But as you know, gender roles are transforming rapidly, for good. So don’t get nervous, & be a partner."
This is how Twitterati reacted:
Afridi's comments are deplorable, to say the least, and netizens seem to agree.