Women under Patriarchy: Squeeze Space in Pakistan (A Comparative Study of Zia and Musharraf’s Regime)

Abstract

This paper deals with the social structures of the
society of Pakistan which have defined and engendered
the roles of woman and man by invoking the support of
cultural symbols. All this has its own material base to
reflect the patriarchal dominance in Pakistan. The
emerging challenges of modernity have put the
traditional forces on defensive borders by allowing the
discourse of modernity to shape relationships between
the two genders. The dialect in between these two
thematic expositions is very evident in the regimes of
Zia and Musharraf. One was aligned with the forces of
traditional set-up to maximize the area of its influence
and the other demonstrated his posture as harbinger of
rationality and enlightenment. This paper will present
this dialect in description to mark the space for women
in the public sphere of Pakistan along with the
whimsical interpretations to construct the role of
women.