Firstly, why can't we discuss women's rights without bringing up the sexual exploitation of women all over the world? In a country where save from certain places, a woman cannot leave her home alone and expect to return without any sort of harassment, we'd be fooling ourselves to say they're not subjugated. wondergurl, if you've never felt subjugated while living in Pakistan then consider yourself extremely blessed. Younger brothers are given more freedom in terms of their education, social lives, and day-to-day decision making than their elder sisters. This is quite common in urban Pakistan. Let's not even go to the rural areas where a woman is considered lucky if she isn't verbally or physically abused on a regular basis. On my last visit to Pakistan, I was completely dependent on the male members of my family to take me sight-seeing, shopping, and any other means of mobility needed - they pretty much decided which places to go and when and how and all that jazz. When women express their own opinions, they're commonly rejected as 'tennu ki pata!" So, this is my very, very general observation of women in Pak. Even if most of your family is awesome and believes in equality between the sexes, you'll always have the societal norms that'd limit you as a woman in Pakistan, no-matter-what. Permanent glass ceiling there.