Browsing by Author "Samina"

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    Gender Consciousness Amongst Pukhtun, in Afghanistan and Pakistan Impact on the Status of Pukhtun Women
    (AREA STUDY CENTRE (CENTRAL ASIA), UNIVERSITY OF PESHAWR, 2015) Samina; Supervised By Prof. Sarfraz Khan
    The study attempts and finds direct and dialectical association between gender consciousness and status of women amongst Pukhtun, in Afghanistan and Pakistan. Rejecting widely held presupposition that an apriori, fixed, monolithic understanding of gender i.e., masculinity/femininity, exists amongst Pukhtun, this study demonstrates that varied patterns and levels of gender consciousness amongst Pukhtun exist which shape gender relations and impact status of Pukhtun women in paradoxical ways. Gender consciousness, reflected in notions, symbols, customs, institutions, laws and policies, multifariously develops dialectically within gender relations. However, the association between genderrelations and consciousness is not mechanical and one-sided. Gender relations interpret consciousness and consciousness shapes these relations. Chapter One defines and discusses key terms i.e., gender, gender relations, gender consciousness and status of women; and builds theoretical paradigm. It repudiates biological determinism and ensuing naturalization of gender based division of labour, masculine/feminine roles, relationships, privileges and discriminations. Chapter Two delineates views of selected philosophers regarding gender and status of women, identifying inherent gender biases, subsequently shaping gendered consciousness and relations. It argues that essentialism inculcates gendered consciousness while dialectical materialist socialist feminism rejects fixed, given, universal masculine/feminine essences and hierarchical gender relations and takes into account roles ofbodies, social, political and economic factors; thus paves way for gender consciousness. Chapter Three, Four and Five use selections from: selected genres of Pukhto folklore and prose; twentieth and twenty first centuries’ Pukhto poetry to delineate and assess varied manifestations of Pukhtun gendered and gender consciousness. It identifies varied androcentric, dichotomous, hierarchical and essentialist patterns of Pukhtun gendered consciousness that sanction absolute authority of men over women’s body, emotions and actions. These patterns legitimize patriarchal Puktun notions, customs, traditions and institutions, ineulcating male-stream Pukhtunwali that dehumanize woman and lowers her 5 status. Pukhtunpatriarchal gender relations and gendered consciousness are grounded in strict division of labour, on the basis of sex difference, both in production and reproduction. This division determines and affects social value assignedto sexed bodies, labour and productof labour, control over resources, their respective roles, status and privileges. Pukhtun gender consciousness exhibits progressively varied levels: beginning with discernement of extremely naked patriarchalpractices, it ascends to advocacy of right to life, education, healthcare, work and consent to marriage and bringing forward ‘subaltern Pukhtunwali’. There appear, occasionally, traces of higher transformatory eritical consciousness too that recognizes women’s agency and calls for collective political action to overthrow patriarchy. These varied patterns and levels of Pukhtun gender consciousness reflect dialectical interplay of a wide range of social, political and economic factors, most notably property relations, division of labour in production and reproduction, strict demarcation of private and public spheres. Conclusions discuss paradoxical development of gender consciousness and impact of varied patterns and levels of Pukhtun gender consciousness on the status of women.