Portrayal Of Females As Second-Rate Citizens: A Feminist Study Of The Wedding Of Sundri And The Fair Way

Abstract

The female suppression and the male domination is a socio-historical fact which needs to be addressed. In most of the world, females are marginalized and denied active participation in the social sphere. This has led to a crisis which is at once (inter)personal, cultural and political. This is a kind of loss of representation which sometimes tend to deprive women of their voice. In a world structured by patriarchal narratives, the foremost challenge for women is to reclaim their true selves and assert their identity. They have to fend off the notions of supposed biological inferiority and capitalistic commodification. The Pakistani rural culture is mostly patriarchal and this has been the theme of many Pakistani fiction writers. The present study discusses the issues of women with reference to two Pakistani short stories The Wedding of Sundri by Bina Shah (2008) and The Fair Way by Asfa Shakeel (2014). The study charts the course of female suppression and marginalization through a plethora of social conventions, patriarchal norms and taboos. The theoretical framework incorporates feminism as a pertinent theory to study the notions of female oppression, unequal distribution of power between men and women, traditional gender roles and gender discrimination. These feminist assumptions are crystalized through the detailed analysis of the texts mentioned above. The aim has been to highlight the unjust treatment received by the Pakistani village women in the name of tradition, culture and the sedimented notions of 'appropriate' behavior.

Headnote

Abstract

The female suppression and the male domination is a socio-historical fact which needs to be addressed. In most of the world, females are marginalized and denied active participation in the social sphere. This has led to a crisis which is at once (inter)personal, cultural and political. This is a kind of loss of representation which sometimes tend to deprive women of their voice. In a world structured by patriarchal narratives, the foremost challenge for women is to reclaim their true selves and assert their identity. They have to fend off the notions of supposed biological inferiority and capitalistic commodification. The Pakistani rural culture is mostly patriarchal and this has been the theme of many Pakistani fiction writers. The present study discusses the issues of women with reference to two Pakistani short stories The Wedding of Sundri by Bina Shah (2008) and The Fair Way by Asfa Shakeel (2014). The study charts the course of female suppression and marginalization through a plethora of social conventions, patriarchal norms and taboos. The theoretical framework incorporates feminism as a pertinent theory to study the notions of female oppression, unequal distribution of power between men and women, traditional gender roles and gender discrimination. These feminist assumptions are crystalized through the detailed analysis of the texts mentioned above. The aim has been to highlight the unjust treatment received by the Pakistani village women in the name of tradition, culture and the sedimented notions of 'appropriate' behavior.

Keywords: Patriarchy, marginalization, female, feminism, Pakistani fiction

Introduction

Human civilization consists of both male and female members who live in a coordinated system. Both the species have their own basic needs and wants to live a balanced life. However, the human history is witness of the unequal and unjust treatment of female gender. Women, in most of the societies, face oppression in various forms, such as political, social, psychological and economic spheres. Most of the time, literature is also dominated by oppressive and deterministic roles obtruded on by the patriarchal values and conventions. The writers represent the marginalized groups, mainly females, with certain stereotypes (Mahadin, p.131). It is generally considered an urgent task of the writers to expose harsh realities of human life. From centuries, women in many parts of the world, face marginalization and demeaning treatment. They are socialized to accept their subordination to men. Writers being the sensitive souls portray realistically in their writings the happenings of everyday life of individuals.

This study aims at highlighting the plight of the Pakistani village women under the strict patriarchal laws and the oppression and marginalization of females and their treatment as second-rate citizens. This study analyzes two short stories written by Pakistani writers. The stories are: Bina Shah's The Wedding of Sundri taken from Rakhshanda Jalil's anthology Neither Night Nor Day (2008) and Asfa Shakeel's The Fair Way from Maniza Naqvi's anthology I'll Find My Way (2014). The portrayal of the issues of women is very much central to Pakistani literature. In this research article, Feminist literary theory has been used to substantiate the significant issues, such as female oppression and gender discrimination in the form of traditional gender roles. Feminism particularly discusses the woefulness and struggles of women in a male dominated society. The maltreatment of women is the epochal issue taken up by various writers from earlier times up till now as a major component of Feminist theory.

Feminism is a literary theory and a movement which is preoccupied with advancing the status of females through the achievement of their legal, political, social and economic rights equal to the rights granted to men by the society (Offen, p.122). This movement has been originated in the 1960's as a response to the long period of female oppression. With the passage of time, women understood their rights and decided to raise their voice against these inequalities. The practical action that the women took to gain a good status and equal rights and the scheme to accomplish the desired goal is known collectively as 'Feminism'. This movement gradually improved the condition of women by focusing on the deprivation of their rights, treatment as subordinates, objectification, power relations, gender biasness, stereotyping and sensual, physical and mental slavery of women. The movement originated for the liberation of all women, irrespective of cast, creed and nation, from societal constraints. Feminism is a movement that strives hard for the freedom of all the classes of women.

In the late nineteenth and early twentieth century, this movement became conspicuous in the literary studies. Feminism became a prominent movement because of the tireless efforts of many western writers of modernist era, such as Henrik Ibsen and Virginia Woolf. Their masterpieces A Doll's House (1879) and A Room of One's Own (I929) set the basis for feminist cognizance. The French feminist Simone de Beauvoir's The Second Sex (1953)further enhanced this consciousness. The other contributors in the field of feminism are Luce Irigaray, Julia Kristeva, Helene Cixous, Marry Wollstonecraft, and Kate Millet (Ahmed, p.90). Rain Voet argues that the basic purpose of feminism is the recognition of the liberty of women and advancement in mode of living their life (p.17).

The feminist tendency is eminent in the modern-day fiction written in Pakistan. Most of the present-day Pakistani fiction writers take up feminism as the central theme in their works because women in many parts of the world are still the victims of injustice and exploitation. Pandey says:

Feminism in literature refers to a mode that approaches a text with foremost concern for the nature of female experience in it. The fictional experience of characters, the subordination and trivialization of women and their treatment as inferiors is the primary concern of female fiction writers from feminist perspective (p. I).

They are handled as lifeless and aimless objects. This tyranny against women continues to exist from centuries. In the view of Azra, women are restricted from the beginning to take part in the growth and development of a nation and society. They are always restricted to merge with male members of society in the corporate life; they are provided with few chances and they have a very little world and limited rights (p.47). Feminism is very much important in the Asian context, because the Asian women, predominantly the women in various Pakistani villages, are still getting the treatment of subordinates and second-rate citizens. This treatment of women by a group of patriarchal male gentry in different societies of the world is an obstacle in the path of societal development. In an attempt to preserve cultural values, the patriarchal men in most societies regulate not just the women's bodies but also their minds. Women are treated as subalterns. They are forced to internalize the roles constructed for them by the male members of respective societies and the Pakistani village society is amongst the ones that is patriarchal to its core. Louis Tyson says, 'patriarchal' is a term that shows power relations. In such relations, the desires and choices of women are servile to the interests of male members of society. Such relations result in the creation of biological difference between males and females (86). The fiction writers from Pakistan impersonate the true condition of women living in most ofthe Pakistani villages. This study investigates the following research questions:

1. What is the social status of women as citizens in the Pakistani village society?

2. What are the culturally constructed stereotypes that are ascribed to women by the patriarchy to show their worthlessness?

3. Do the women enjoy an equal status with men in a male dominated society? What are the ways through which the society dehumanizes women?

In order to answer these questions, this study deals with few major notions of feminist theory, such as 'female oppression', 'othering', and 'gender construction', through the analysis of two Pakistani short stories The Wedding of Sundari and The Fair Way by Asfa Shakeel. In order to make the arguments convincing, this research study also refers to the views given by various critics and research scholars. The study also incorporates many other primary and secondary sources as related literature to endorse the arguments.

Feminism is the recurring theme in both the short stories The Wedding of Sundri and The Fair Way. The Wedding of Sundari is the tale of a young fourteen years old village girl Sundari, betrothed when she was only seven with Ghulam Farid, a relative of her father. The story begins with Sehbagi, working in the kitchen on the day of Sundari's wedding. Sundari is fourteen now, and Ghulam Farid is twenty five now. Sundari's wedding has been decided by her father without her consent. Her mother Sehbagi is also not involved in the decision of her daughter's marriage by her father. Mohammad Karim, Sundari's father, ordered Sehbagi to do the necessary preparations on her wedding ceremony. All the village people gathered at Mohammad Karim's house on the wedding of his daughter. Sundari was dressed for bride by her mother. The bridegroom came with a procession from neighboring village and the ritual of nikah (wedlock) was performed. Sundari was sent with her husband. The parents advised her to take care of her husband and in-laws; remain submissive to her husband and bear him more sons. This is the only way she would lead a happy life. The story ends with the merciless murder of Sundari in the name of preserving traditions and cultural norms. Sundari was declared kari(amoral) by the villagers because they got the news that she used to play with village boys when she was a child and the punishment of immorality of a girl is death according to rigid patriarchal laws in some of the villages of Pakistan.

The Fair Way, on the other hand, is a tale of an eleven year old girl Fatima who goes against her parents and societal rules to get education. The story opens with Fatima and her mother discussing the life of women in the village. Fatima wants to get education and leaves behind the village life full of restraints but she feels reluctant to disclose her wish. One day she tried to tell her mother that she wants to get education. Her mother snubbed her by saying that education is meant for men and her brothers will get education. This attitude annoyed Fatima. She wanted the freedom to utilize her potential because she knows that she has more potential than her brothers. She was disgusted with her father's beating of her mother regularly without reason. She was tired of the illogical restraints faced by the girls of her village. So, one day she decided to go against her parents and the society to get education. She was awarded with a full scholarship for medical college. Her father tried to stop her, but he couldn't turn down the high spirits of his daughter. The villagers criticized Fatima and her parents not to show conformity to the limitations set for girls.

This account of women's long oppression, subjection and domination is, indeed, agonizing and heartrending, involving different kinds of exclusionary and discriminatory practices manipulated by many patriarchal men in various parts of the world. Because of the crippling influence of subjection, oppression and marginalization, women in most parts of the globe have to struggle to eliminate this discrimination (Ngwainmbi, p.50). This research article, hence, critically analyzes and gives voice to the plight of women living in the Pakistani village society. The writers of the stories portray such societies where the women exist without the individuality of their own. They are defined in relation to the male members and not in relation to themselves. They live a life bestowed by men just like puppets. In such societies, "Woman is losing herself, she is lost. It is hard to know any longer if woman exists, if she does, what place she holds in this world" (Beauvoir, p.15). The Pakistani society is mostly patriarchal due to the superiority and control of men and the unjust treatment women receive in the name of traditions and cultural norms. In such societies, men are hatched with worth, power and dignity, whereas women have to struggle the entire life to gain this position. The women are treated as bodies and men as self. Throughout their life, women are subjected to criticism and examination, before marriage by fathers and brothers and after marriage by husbands. Women have no identity and individuality of their own. "The most important goal a female is allowed is the pursuit of a man" (Friedan, p.24). This has been elucidated by Bina Shah and Asfa Shakeel in their stories The Wedding of Sundari and The Fair Way.

Marginalization and Oppression of Women

Marginalization is the process in which an individual or a group is pushed to periphery and given lesser importance (Bordo, 2004). The individual or group is treated as minority and their wants and necessities are ignored. They are oppressed by the society. Oppression is the unjust treatment the individuals receive in any society. According to feminism, oppression is the elongated subjection of women in any society which is dominated by men. Women in many cultures and societies of the world are oppressed in one way or the other. In such cultures, women get a treatment of second-rate citizens and havebeen subordinated to men. These conservative societies interdict women from expressing themselves through various inventive outlets. Their power and creativity are channeled into subversive actions. Millet cited by Tong asserts that many writers, scientists, philosophers and legislators have tried hard to present that the inferiority of women is beneficial on earth and willed in paradise. Women have been made to realize that they are lesser by nature. The men show lip-service to equivalence, but refuse its execution. Women are always marginalized. Only they know themselves, their feelings and needs (p. 102). This unending oppression and never-changing marginalization continues to exist in many villages of Pakistani culture even today where women are still controlled and governed through patriarchy. Women are given no rights to get education and to decide their future.

In the stories The Wedding of Sundari and The Fair Way, the writers portray that the females of both the villages such as Fatima and Sundari are deprived of their basic rights in the name of religion, tradition, culture and morality. The male member is transcendental signified in many of the Pakistani villages; he is the nucleus around which the females orbit. On the contrary, the women cannot raise their voice and protest for their rights, because, in such places, the world is still governed by men and women are mere men's Other. They cannot do away with this otherness, and hence this is the way they ought to survive. That is the reason Naseema, Sundari's maternal aunt, and Fatima's mother silently receive beatings from her husband. In some of the Pakistani villages, womanhood is a complete commitment and a female is tied entirely to a male. They have no say in any matter of human affairs. Bina Shah writes in her story The Wedding of Sundari, "women knew from the day they were born how little control they had over anything that went on around them" (13). According to the author, this innate inferiority of the women is inculcated in them by men in the villages like Sundari's and Fatima's in the name of tradition and cultural norms. In such situations, religion is also used by patriarchy as a social apparatus to create ideology and to subjugate women.

The Pakistani English literature centers its theme on women issues because it quite often attempts to highlight various facets of local cultures of different villages and the attitude towards women folk that shapes the core of patriarchal laws. In both of the short stories, women are presented as "subjected to the incarceration within four walls of their respective homes" (Hina, p.465). The Wedding of Sundari and The Fair Way are the stories of two different villages. In both the stories, Bina Shah and Asfa Shakeel portray that the girls in the villages are not allowed to get education. For example, "In her village, girls didn't go to school after they reached the age of ten or so, when they could help around the house. And none of them even dreamed of having anything close to a career" (Shakeel, p.16). "It was not unusual in their village for girls to get married. They didn't go to school, nor did they get any grooming for any job" (Shah, p.138). These quotations taken from the stories show the marginalization of female gender in some of the Pakistani village cultures. In many village families, if the girls want to get education it is considered to be an inappropriate desire which is against the societal rules and moralities. Therefore, women are prevented to get education. They are enclosed in their homes and detached from the outer world. Abdul Halim Sharar cited by Gul Hina in her article "Modernist Trends and Varied Responses: Reflections on Muslim Women in Urdu Prose by Male authors of South Asia (1900-1936)" beautifully says in his novel Badar-un-Nisa,

The women are not commodity that you locked them in the houses as you wrapped your diamond and precious stone in the boxes. The women are more valuable as compared to other precious things. The household women remained unaware of the worldly matters and leading life as prisoners, they should go outside to meet with other and gain knowledge about the worldly matters. Women should play their role in constructing the society and avail of their abilities (p.473).

The women in these villages, in fact, do not question about their lower status. They are taught by their parents from birth to be tolerant and unassertive. That is the reason, the young girls like Fatima and Sundari accept their fate without raising their voice to uphold the cultural values, a socially constructed role they are obliged to be careful about. The forced submission of Sundari and Fatima to the societal norms are vividly portrayed in the lines, "Sundari showed no reaction when she was told of her marriage" (Shah, p.139) and "Fatima bit down her tongue to stop herself from voicing her irritation. She hadn't ever disclosed her wishes to anyone" (Shakeel, p.15). Through the plight of Sundari and Fatima, the writers depicted the forced tolerance and submission of women in many parts of the Pakistani village setup. In such typical village cultures, women are marginalized to the extent that they do not have any allowance of protesting against any cruelty and injustice inflicted upon them. This can be seen in both the stories. For instance, "Fatima's father was cursing her mother in anger. His crude words mix with the rambling apologies of her mother as her father haunt over her" (Shakeel, p.17), and "Sehbagi nodded in an acceptance of her spouse's words. She knew in her heart that her husband didn't know any better, but she had to pretend he is right" (Shah, p. 147).

The asymmetrical values of patriarchal society, in most parts, oppress women through Othering. This idea of "Othering of women" has also been discussed by the postcolonial feminists. In the view of French feminist Simone de Beauvoir, the man is Self, he is the absolute; the woman is the second sex, she is his Other (p. 26). Shah and Shakeel also shed light on the secondary status of many Pakistani village women and cruelties and atrocities they bear under male hegemony in The Wedding of Sundri and The Fair Way. The writers realistically represented that the women living in many of the Pakistani villages lack worth, respect and love in their marital relations also. They are quite often brutally treated by their husbands. Beating wives and daughters is quite common in those villages, and it is also considered one of the signs of masculinity. Both the authors state, "this was Sebhagi's sister, whose husband beat her often" (Shah, 6) and "her father beating her mother wasn't something new. He did it regularly, and casually, often without any reason" (Shakeel, p.17). This demonstrates the oppression of women meted out to them by most men in some Pakistani villages, such as the villages where the unfortunate women like Sundari and Fatima reside. The world, hence, still consists of many patriarchal societies, where the patriarchal associates have their own values and morality codes for both male and female members. Every member of the society is expected to obey these codes. If a woman, though she is a child, goes against these norms, the patriarchal society stands as villainous towards her joys. Lois Tyson mentions in Critical Theory Today (1950): "One can easily fall off a pedestal, and when a woman does, she is often punished. At best, she suffers selfrecrimination for her inadequacy or 'unnaturalness'. At worst, she suffers physical punishment from the community or from her husband" (90). Bina Shah and Asfa Shakeel vividly portray the villainous attitude insome of the Pakistani patriarchal village societies. In The Wedding of Sundari, the villagers give Sundri an undeserved punishment. "She was killed. She was declared a kari, because the girl used to play with boys in the village before she was married. To bring dishonor was a sin of the worst kind, a sin that merited death and only death" (Shah, pp. 149-151). In The Fair Way, Fatima becomes the subject of criticism because of her desire to get higher education. "The villagers look down upon her for not confirming to their limitations. He wanted to drag her back to the confines of their one room house and restrict her from leaving it ever again" (Shakeel, p. 19). Such atrocities face by many village girls, like, Sundari and Fatima clearly indicate the oppression, violence and injustices the women suffer in such patriarchal societies.

Constructed Gender Roles

Gender, indeed, is a social construction that includes the dimensions upon which individuals are distinct from each other, such as male and female. Biological composition is something different which differentiates the males from the females. On the basis of this distinction, the society, in fact, expects various roles and behaviors from them. Hence, the way they behave in society is wholly dependent upon the biological composition they stick to (Shaikh & Khan, 153). According to feminism, this biological composition categorizes human beings into males and females, whereas gender is constructed by societal and cultural communities as masculine and feminine. Wollstonecraft, a famous feminist, cited by Rosemarie Tong in her book Feminist Thought (2009) argues that "we are literally self-less-that is, our very identities are determined by our socially constituted wants and desires. We are, fundamentally, the selves our communities create" (p. 39). It is the society that describes and frames the identities of the genders and ascribes them different functions. So, "gender is not represented as 'real', but as a boundary which is politically regulated" (Gamble, 50).

In different male oriented societies, various images and labels are attached with males and females. These labels are called 'stereotypes'. All the constructive connotations are usuallyattached with men and the negative stereotypes with women. In the system of binary oppositions, women occupy the right side and men the left. The left side is the privileged one and the right disadvantaged one. So, in such societies that are constructed by men, the men are given superior status and women the inferior or second-rate status. Men are expected to be very strong and creative and women to be passive, irrational and docile. In the view of Beauvoir, the men of the society believe that there is a great distinction between the two genders. Men are active creatures and women passive. This inborn passivity is the lot of women because they are non-developed unit (46).

In various patriarchal regimes, particularly some of the Pakistani villages, male members always enjoy exclusive rights because of the eternal sovereignty they are born with. They are associated with all the positive traits and women, the negative. The line of Sehbagi, "well, I'm sure you know the best" (Shah, p. 137) clearly demonstrates the superiority of men in their respective villages. The feminist critics work for the equality of genders. According to them, the society should give equal chance to females to develop their moral and rational capabilities. Like many fiction writers, Asfa Shakeel also raised voice for gender equality in The Fair Way. The femalesfrom the villages also deserve freedom and opportunities to excel in every domain of human affairs. Asfa Shakeel writes, "She wanted the freedom to utilize her potential. If boys could work and get educated, why couldn't she? What distinction did the gender make? She was confident, her abilities weren't less for her being a girl. And she was more hardworking than her brothers" (p. 16).

In such circumstances, the females are deprived of basic rights under social constructionism. Under these gender roles, a woman "feels like the passive plaything of obscure forces" (Beauvoir, 98). In such societal conditions, the father, the sovereign of the family unit, decides the fate of his daughters at a very early age without their consent. The innocent daughters submit themselves to the unjust societal norms without raising voice for their rights. This silent acceptance and enforced submission is the role assigned to women in a patriarchal society. In The Wedding of Sundari, the little innocent girl Sundari confronts similar fate. This misfortune of Sundari is portrayed in the lines,

A few hours later, Sundri was dressed and ready for the wedding. The red and gold outfit was now hanging on her bony frame, the girl looked odd, all dressed up in fine clothes and jewellery and new gold shoes. A child in her mother's clothing or perhaps a doll readied for a tea party by a child (6).

Women are treated as lifeless creatures and commodities. The purpose of the birth of females specifically in a rigid patriarchal society is to decide their fates early. As Fatima says to herself:

Parents sent off their daughters to their new homes knowing that they would be beaten and they were okay with it. She could not envision that someday she'd be the physical outlet for her life partner's anger and staying quiet about it because this is against the dignity of women to speak for the cruelty they would be subjected to (Shakeel, p. 18).

The biggest desire of a woman is personhood. A woman does not deserve to be treated as a toy and a play thing. She is not an instrument or tool to men's pleasures, rather complete human being with an identity and individuality of her own. In most societies, the laws are very unjust about the roles given to women. Such unjust societies aregenderedbecause they infuse an obscure impression that women are inferior to men by birth. The purpose of this vague impression is to limit their power by refusing occupational and educational roles, which are the means to acquire power. This inferiority inscribed with women is culturally constructed. It is not a biological construction (Tyson, 86). Because of these constructed roles, power relations occur between men and women in many areas of the world where men hold the life and destiny of women and decide their fate. Bina Shah and Asfa Shakeel depict the harsh realities of a few Pakistani village societies where men exercise their unjust power to control women. Strauss cited by Beauvoir in The Second Sex asserts that this cosmos has always been male-centered; power, social or political has always been residing in men. (105). Because of these unjust power relations, the villagers kill Sundari by declaring her a "dishonored woman" and Fatima's father beats her mother regularly without reason.

The women in those gendered societies are expected to internalize the roles defined for them. They are obligated to remain obedient towards their father before marriage and husband after marriage. The major roles given to them are providing sensual pleasure, cooking food for male members, looking after the children and making their husbands and their family happy by giving birth to more sons. This is highlighted by both the writers, Bina Shah and Asfa Shakeel. The textual data "Pass me that flour, and turn over that roti. Her mother was warming milk to feed the baby, who was always fussy" (Shakeel, 3-4), "Sundari and Sehbagi were the first to awake in order to prepare morning's first meal- sweet flat bread and tea-for the male members of the house" (Shah, p.135) and the farewell words of Sebhagi to Sundri: "Obey your husband. Obey your mother-in-law. Obey your husband's family. Do not bring shame upon our heads. Work hard and have sons" (Shah, 11) are the clear evidences that depict the roles constructed for women in some of the Pakistani villages.

Conclusion

This study presents the problems women suffer in some of the Pakistani village societies under the unjust patriarchal laws which are socially constructed. The two stories The Wedding of Sundri written by Bina Shah selected from Rakhshanda Jalil's anthology Neither Night nor Day and The Fair Way by Asfa Shakeel chosen from Maniza Naqvi's I'll Find My Way are critically analyzed from the feminist perspective. Feminism emerged from social and intellectual forces and became popular in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. The oppression, marginalization, social inequalities and gender discrimination between men and women are central to feminist theory which are critically analyzed in the present study. This study gives voice to the plight of women living in different patriarchal Pakistani village societies where they are oppressed, marginalized and discriminated. They are treated as second-rate citizens, as inferior creatures having no identity and individuality of their own. They are victimized by unequal power distribution and unjust division of societal role. These notions are analyzed through the detailed analysis of female characters suffering in the stories. Thus, the study highlights that women have been treated as second-rate citizens, and intends to convey the message to the women living in some typical Pakistani patriarchal village societies to raise voice for their basic rights, individuality and freedom.

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