Sania Saeed is a senior Pakistani television actress known for her versatile acting and powerful performances. She began her career in the late 1980s with theatre. Her notable dramas are Aahat, Sitara Aur Mehrunissa, Zaibunnissa, Sang e Mar Mar, Sang e Mah, Ae Dil and others.
Recently, Sania Saeed appeared in Faces of Pakistan’s podcast, hosted by Aftab. In the podcast, she opened up about elderly women of industry, financial independence and relationships.
Talking about elder women stories, she said, “We have very few stories written for elderly women because this reflects our society and how women are perceived. Women are often seen merely as child-bearing objects — they’re objectified. For many, a woman is only considered attractive in her youth because it’s the time when she is “Sellable”. That’s why they don’t want to tell the story of a 35-year-old woman. There’s a problematic attitude toward women — they want her to retire at 35, when in reality, her story begins after that age. I’ve also never played my own age in my career. Even in my youth, I was made to play a mother’s role.”
Talking about the relationship between men and women and gender roles, she said, “Communication is the major issue — the lack of communication and interaction between men and women causes most of the problems. We were in Australia attending a festival — people were dancing and everyone was having fun. A friend asked me, ‘You always say there should be a friendly, constructive environment between men and women — what does that mean?’ I pointed to the festival and said, ‘This is what I mean. There are cultural norms here: you can’t touch anyone; even if a girl falls, you can’t touch her till the ambulance arrives. These norms are shaped by culture. You don’t invade others’ privacy or interfere while they’re doing their job. Let them be, let them have fun, and just be yourself.”
Talking about financial independence, she said, “Economic independence is very important for women — there’s no question about it. It means that women should have a talent or skill that can be monetized. When you look at the structure and fabric of society, decision-making power stems from financial independence. In the case of an accident or any mishap, a financially independent woman can stand on her own. But when she is dependent, the power to make decisions slips from her hands — she can’t even make choices for her own children. Economic independence brings knowledge and decision-making power because when you go out and meet people, you learn and grow. Women are complete, functioning human beings with abilities that need to be utilized — but instead, we keep them confined at home and because of this many women outside are facing problems, like on Afghanistan, there are no female doctors to serve.”
