ISLAMABAD, Jan 8: Traditionally the idea of a Finishing School is to teach women etiquette and elegance, characteristics that have lost their edge in a fast-paced world, where technology has trumped the need for table manners.

But, the women at PAF Finishing School, overlooking the Margalla Hills in Islamabad claim to be at par with modernity.

“Being modern does not necessarily mean being western,” Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar told the audience of young girls, who had just graduated from the finishing school.

“Women across the agricultural landscape of Pakistan are not just homemakers, but innovators and entrepreneurs, whose resilience is recognised the world over.”

Ms Khar is often commended to be the face of this modernity in Pakistan, a place where men and women compete as equals for coveted positions, power and pomp.

However, for most young girls, the barriers to entry into this world, beyond the confines of their home, has been considerably challenging.

“I joined the finishing school because I lacked confidence,” said Maimoona Javed, a student of psychology.

Javed had graduated with a complex degree, yet felt uncertain how to apply her analytical skills in the working world.

Her course mates, girls mostly being the ages of 17 and 27, nodded in agreement.

“Typically, there is an idea that girls attend finishing schools because they are interested in fashion, or are concerned about their looks,” Zarrish Zia asserted.

However, the girls at PAF were not just modelled in the art of appearance but go through an extensive boot-camp, where they learn how to pitch tents, extinguish fires and swim.

There was also a foray into the culinary world, not just cooking, but how to entertain formal dinner parties and eat in posh restaurants.

A series of speakers enlightened them on subtleties in art, with visits to galleries and museums. There were discussions on religion and nationalism.

The conversation was distinctly polite, there were no boundary pushing debates on political and economic divides within the country, an attempt to radically subvert customary practices.

Yet, Sherin Fayyaz, who had graduated with a degree in law, felt herself inspired.

“When I completed my degree, I was confused about the path I wanted to take. This course was not just about developing intellectual skills, but nurturing our emotional intelligence.”

Fayyaz noted that instead of lacking assurance, the idea was instilled in her that she was in control of her destiny.

This notion is quite powerful for a generation of younger urban women, who are slowly restructuring gender divides, by acquiring the skills associated with modernity –not just degree of education, but the ability to think clearly and communicate.

Gender discrepancies in legal and economic spheres are oft quoted in Pakistan, and neatly recorded by social sector organisations, which have been at the forefront of a growing movement in the past two decades to demand more dignity for women in the private and public space.

Recent legislation has attempted to control systematic inequality and violence, but much of the battle will be one of ideas.

Certainly, by encouraging young women to confidently take control of their own lives, not just as daughters and wives, but women of their own accord, an essential victory may be possible.