Impact of Patriarchy on Female Agency: A Feminist Analysis of The Wedding of Sundri and The Daughters of Aai

Abstract

In a patriarchal society, women often live a bitter, subjugated, and victimized life. They have to struggle a lot to prove their worth and value to the men dominating them in all aspects of their lives. This research paper, based on two contemporary short stories, The Daughters of Aai (2007) by Fehmida Riaz and The Wedding of Sundri (2007) by Bina Shah, analyzes the troubled and marginalized lives of female characters in a patriarchal society in Pakistan. The Daughters of Aai revolving around an old woman Aai and her daughters is a story about traditions that explores women’s struggle in the midst of controlling male counterparts in the male dominated society. The Wedding of Sundri is a story of a girl named Sundri who is killed on her wedding night for not proving to be a virgin. Both the short stories exhibit women’s limited agency under the impact of patriarchal designed societies. The paper explores how deeply rooted structures in the Pakistani society strengthen patriarchy and limits and devalues women’s agency. Using the theory of Radical Feminism by Kate Millett (1970), this paper explores that gender roles are socially constructed and assigned to women in the societies run by men. It also highlights that men play power politics to control family dynamics and sexual relationships of women within a patriarchal setup. Hence, women’s agency plays a vital role in countering the societal injustice and masculine oppression, but it has always faced bitter experiences that have decreased its powers and strength to be exercised, as discussed in this study.