Senior actress Nadia Jamil has issued a clarification over video clip in which she stated that a wife should not be expected to assume the role of a husband’s mother.
The video, which garnered significant attention across platforms, showed Ms Jamil recounting an incident involving her son and his fiancé.
In the clip, she explained that while she, as a mother, had tolerated her son’s emotional outbursts, she had to remind him that such expectations could not be extended to his future wife.
“Your wife is not your mother,” she had said in the video, adding that women should not be expected to perform maternal roles in marital relationships. The statement drew mixed reactions from the public, with some lauding the message for challenging traditional gender roles, while others criticised it as undermining the role of care and nurturing in a marriage.
In a detailed Instagram post shared later, the veteran actress maintained that her words were taken out of context, yet she reaffirmed her core message.
“As a wife and a mother, my duties are different,” she wrote. “I take care of my husband, but not in the way I take care of my children. The role of a wife in married life is based on love, respect, and partnership—not on protection or pride like that of a mother.”
Ms Jamil went on to say that the purpose of her original video was to highlight a social reality. “Many women in our society are expected to bear emotional labour in relationships as if they are mothers to their spouses. This dynamic is neither healthy nor fair,” she noted.
She further emphasised that her intention was not to ridicule or belittle anyone, but rather to start a conversation about more equitable relationships.
“No one can, nor should, replace a mother,” she said. “Husbands and wives care for each other, but the nurturing of a mother is something unique.”
In the concluding part of her statement, Ms Jamil encouraged women to embrace their roles as equal partners rather than feel pressured to ‘mother’ anyone in a relationship.
“I want every woman to hear this clearly: you do not need to prove yourself as a mother in any relationship. Live with dignity, and learn to be an equal.”
