Abstract

Patriarchy is a curse from which the tribal belt of Pakistan and Afghanistan comprising the Pashtun tribes has been suffering for a very long time. From honour killing to keeping women away from the outside world, the Pashtun men have dominated women in every sphere of life. The prolific book of Jamil Ahmad ‘The Wandering Falcon’ criticizes the patriarchal norms followed by the people living in the tribal belt. This qualitative study was conducted under Postmodern Feminism Cultural Theory to explore the theme of patriarchy in Ahmad’s collection of short stories. In these short stories, the writer implicitly gives the notion of patriarchy in the Pashtun culture and society, stating problems women face such as female slavery, kidnapping, and honour killing while providing good detail about the treatment of women as animals.

Key Words

Patriarchy, Postmodern Feminism, Tribal Areas, Bride Price, Women, Pashtun Culture, Female Slavery, Kidnapping, Honor Killing

Introduction

The Wandering Falcon is a book consisting of short stories by former Pakistani Civil Servant Jamil Ahmad written initially in the 1960s but published in 2011. Jamil Ahmad served in the region of Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) of Pakistan. In the book, he talks about the nomadic tribes of FATA, Baluchistan, and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK). These tribes are known for the brutal and gentle nature of the ambitious and loving Pashtuns. It provides excellent detail about the people residing in the area where the border of Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Iran meet.

Discrimination against women continues to be a serious impediment to social advancement. Gender prejudice affects women and transgender persons. They are egregious examples of societal inequality. Women face discrimination in every aspect of their lives, especially in healthcare, academia, governance, maternity health, and the industry (Ahmed, Shafi & Masood, 2021). Pakistan is regarded as the world's second-worst state for gender disparity. Pakistani girls are among the lower academic levels in the world. When a girl is born in a nation like Pakistan, the majority of her options are indeed determined. When a newborn boy is conceived, however, his family will let him do anything he wants. In practically every facet of life, a woman in traditional Pashtun society is reliant on a male guardian.

The book The Wandering Falcon is a prominent example of patriarchy in the culture and societal values of the Pashtun tribes living in different parts of KPK, Baluchistan, and Afghanistan. In the book, the instances indirectly portray that females are not given equal rights to men in their society. It has been suggested that females' duties in the home are limited. In terms of their social roles, they are constrained. Their greatest concern is for the men in their household. Women play important responsibilities in Pashtun society, including tasks such as cleaning and cooking. They are not permitted to discuss topics outside the home. There is no judicial system as any specific government does not rule them. No woman dares to question the norms of society. They have a male guardian who makes all of her decisions throughout their lives. He has the right to physically or verbally abuse her if she does not act on his command.




Statement of the Problem

Despite various gender discrimination legislation and court judgements, women face uneven discrimination in all aspects of life across Pakistan, particularly in the tribal areas. One of the biggest impediments to Pashtun society's progress is patriarchy. Due to the obvious obstacles women experience, a large percentage of the national population (Pashtun women) is not contributing to their nations' growth. The research looked at how Jamil Ahmad depicted this pandemic in The Wandering Falcon, wherein the women are shown as being denied basic rights. 




Significance of the Study

With the help of this study, people can learn how patriarchy prevails in modern society. This study raised a severe issue for this country, which has hindered its success. Furthermore, it would assist the students and researchers dealing with the same problem area. The research strives to aid literature students in understanding the selected topic, i.e., patriarchy. The study is critically conducted on Jamil Ahmad’s The Wandering Falcon.




Research Objectives

The objectives of the research are as follows:

i. To show the scenes portraying 'Patriarchy' in the novel

ii. To investigate the impact of patriarchal society on the characters’ lives

iii. To investigate the importance of honour in Pashtun tribes




Research Questions

The following research questions are employed in the present study:

i. How does the patriarchal behaviour of characters affects the life of the protagonist?

ii. What is the significance of honour in the Pashtun tribes?

Literature Review

This part of the research deals with the analysis of previous studies on the theme of patriarchy and the Pashtun tribal system. Apart from that, this study summarized the research conducted to expose the patriarchal culture in the Pashtun tribes of Pakistan, primarily in FATA. It relates to the instances portrayed in Jamil Ahmad’s The Wandering Falcon.

Ahmad, Tahir, and Asif (2019), while writing about the nomadic tribes settled in the land of FATA, say that the Pashtuns living in the region were fearless and courageous in their approach. However, they often chose paths dictated by their ego and anger. The moral values, along with their social, cultural, and economic standards, have been discussed by Jamil Ahmed in the novel The Wandering Falcon. In addition, the authors discuss how Jamil Ahmad has portrayed the lifestyle of the people living in the region of FATA through language. 

According to Abbas (2016), FATA is the region in Pakistan comprising six regions and seven tribal agencies. Pakistan consists of approximately 60 Pashtun tribes known for their bravery and skills in warfare. Living in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, FATA, and Baluchistan, the Pashtuns comprise 15% of the population of Pakistan (Hadid & Sattar, 2018). These people are known for their bravery, and they take pride in advocating that in their 3000 years long history. They were never conquered except for the brief invasions by Alexander The Great, Genghis Khan, and Tamerlane. Mehsud is a tribe of Pashtuns that any foreigner has never invaded (Nawaz & de Borchgrave, 2009). The literature mentioned above tells a lot about the fearless and ruthless nature of the Pashtuns living in Pakistan. In addition, it talks about the factors of the egotistic and proud nature of the tribes of Pashtuns.

According to Bhasin (2012), patriarchy is a specific type of family where a dominant male controls all the family members, including other males, females, and enslaved people. While with time, the concept of patriarchy changed, it is generally used to denote a male-dominated society. Walby defines “patriarchy as a system of social structures and practices in which men dominate, oppress and exploit women” (Walby, 1990, p. 20

). 

Fredrik, Littrel, and Bertsch (2013) define patriarchy as the culture where strictly defined sex roles tell that women are inferior to men. The significant reasons for patriarchy in a society are the lack of education, limitations in the industrialization of a country, and the traditional social system. Hassan, Shafi, and Masood (2021) believed that men want women to have a defined space whose boundaries they are not allowed to cross. So, the studies above show that patriarchy is defined differently by different authors. However, the central idea behind the concept of patriarchy is the domination of males and the subordination of females. 

According to Sultana (2012), patriarchy is the primary reason for women’s subordination in society. The level of this subordination differs from culture to culture. The level of subordination does not affect the general idea behind patriarchy (Fatima, Ahmed, & Shafi, 2021). In merit, women might be ahead of the men in an institute, but the patriarchal culture gives more rights to men. 

According to Moghadam (2005), the patriarchal belt, primarily consisting of Pakistan and Afghanistan, has defined women’s roles in society. From early marriages to the lack of female labour force and their lack of involvement in the country’s political issues are the fundamental reasons why this region is considered the patriarchal belt.

Syed et al. (2013) conducted research in the patriarchal belt to know the inclination of women toward participation in jobs and social activities. They found out that the participation of women in the job sector has been declining compared to the other parts of the country. They also noticed a considerable gap in the participation of women of the patriarchal belt in education compared to some other regions of

the world.

Moreover, according to Riphenburg (2003), women of this region are generally less educated, and their involvement in the affairs outside the kitchen is shallow. The studies provided above show the lack of participation of women in affairs outside the home. Women in this belt have a very restricted social life. Male dominance is imminent from the literature provided above.

According to Notezai (2015), Baluchistan is a region of Pakistan that completely fits into the definition of patriarchy because a single male dominates a whole tribe. Without his permission, nothing significant happens in the tribe. Apart from that, the women of Baluchistan have a literacy rate of 26%, which drops down to 2% in rural Baluchistan, making the conditions even worse. The women of the region are not allowed to take part in education. On the other hand, the city of Makran saw a rise in the literacy rate of women. The parents in that region were happy to send their daughters to privately run schools. However, 70% of the parents stopped sending their children to private schools, primarily co-education institutes, when those schools were threatened to be bombed. It gives a great idea about the people living in that region of the country. 

Aurat Foundation, a privately run institute in Pakistan, reported 187 cases of violence against women in Baluchistan. It has also been noticed that 75 women were killed in the name of honour, which is a disturbing figure (Aurat Foundation, 2020). So, the literature above suggests that Baluchistan is a region in Pakistan heavily reliant on the tribal system where a chief leads the whole tribe. The condition of women living in this part of the world is that of subordinates, deprived of fundamental human rights.

While talking about The Wandering Falcon’, Sadaf, Bhatia, and Embley (2017) say that Jamil Ahmad wrote the novel while keeping a neutral point of view. He has not condemned the Pashtuns living in the FATA region. Neither has glorified the traditions or the lifestyles of the Pashtuns. He presents things as they are. Even the brutal incidents have been portrayed calmly, without displaying any sentiments. However, he gave indications of the brutality, feuds, barbarism. On the other hand, he also talks about valour, justice, and respect among the people of the nomadic tribes, instigated by basic emotions (Shafi, 2019).

In an interview with NPR, while talking about the harshness of the novel Jamil Ahmad himself says, "It is brutal, undoubtedly. However, what I wanted to convey - and there's probably worse brutality in the cities and the plains; brutality exists. But how the tribes deal with it, I thought, was clean and clear. There's a clear line between right and wrong" (NPR Interview, 2011). According to him, their trends are very different from those of the Westerns but have a certain sense of integrity. As a result, they have remained intact for centuries.

One of the prominent features of the book The Wandering Falcon by Jamil Ahmad is the patriarchy in the culture of the Baloch tribes. In the book, the instances indirectly portray that females are not given equal rights to men in their society. It has been portrayed that females are restricted in their roles in the house. They are restricted in terms of their roles in society. Their primary focus is to tend to the men of their house. Different chores like cleaning and cooking are significant roles of women in the Pashtun society. They are not allowed to talk about matters outside the household. There is no judicial system as any specific government does not rule them. No woman dares to question the norms of society. Also, the nomadic tribes of the region seriously discourage individualism (Sadaf, Bhatia & Embeley, 2017).

Afridi (2018) stated that the women of the tribal region of Pakistan do not indulge in the affairs of the men. No matter the severity of the issue, the females living in the tribal regions do not involve themselves in the disputes. They are only responsible for doing the household chores. Even if the disputes of the tribes are not solved in the Jirgah, the result is an assault on the family, and the women of the family are not tortured or hurt. So, it shows that the men of the family have massive respect for the females even if they are not related to them. Hence, Jamil Ahmad, in his book, has not only told the stories about the barbarism of the Pashtun tribes; however, he has also mentioned the integrity and respect that the males hold for the females among the female Pathans of the FATA region.

From the literature provided above, it has been shown that The Wandering Falcon is a novel that talks about the brutal and bold nature of the nomadic Pashtuns living in the region of FATA. Enough evidence has been provided which shows that patriarchy is a severe problem from which the people of Afghanistan and Pakistan are suffering. This research aims to depict why patriarchy has become so instilled in the culture that it has become a permanent part of it. This study extracted excerpts from Jamil Ahmad’s The Wandering Falcon to research patriarchy as a tribal social value.

Research Methodology

Research Design

This research is descriptive and follows the qualitative method for data analysis (Masood & Shafi, 2020, Siddiq et al., 2021). This study analyzed the instances of patriarchy in The Wandering Falcon by Jamil Ahmad. In addition, the instances depicting the significance of honour in the Pashtun culture have also been analyzed.

Research Method

The data was taken while keeping in mind the research questions (Ullah, Arif, & Qaisar, 2020), particularly the instances which portray the patriarchal culture of different Pashtun tribes. In addition, several instances depicting the importance of honour in the tribes of Baluchistan were analyzed, and the research results have been provided after the data analysis.




Theoretical Framework

Postmodern Feminist Cultural Theory (Ebert, 1988) analyses the instances of patriarchy in  Jamil Ahmad’s The Wandering Falcon. This theory argues that gender, which is the base of patriarchy, is not biologically constructed. Instead, it is constructed socially, i.e., gender does not represent the biological sex of a person. The moment a girl is born in any society, she is taught how to ‘perform’ (Magalhaes, 2005) as a girl. She has to remain within the given boundaries provided to her by society. In this social construction, masculinity holds power. Therefore, society finds ways to undermine one gender regardless of the advancements. The Wandering Falcon incorporates the theme of patriarchy which is deeply rooted in the Pashtun society and rises only through the societal norms and tribal values. Therefore, this theory has been selected to explore patriarchal feminism in the Pashtun culture through Jamil Ahmad’s masterpiece.




Research Method

This research is descriptive and follows the qualitative method for data analysis. The Wandering Falcon by Jamil Ahmad was analyzed using the Postmodern Feminist Cultural Theory devised by Roberta Hamilton to identify and explain the themes and instances depicting patriarchy.




Criteria for Data Selection

The Wandering Falcon by Jamil Ahmad has been taken as a significant source of Data Collection. Postmodern Feminist Cultural Theory has been used to analyze the selected data to accomplish the research objectives critically. The essential parts of the text of Jamil Ahmad’s ‘The Wandering Falcon’ have been selected, and their resemblance has been analyzed under the provided theoretical framework.




Textual Analysis

The Wandering Falcon is a book written by Jamil Ahmad, consisting of short stories revolving around one character named Tor Baz. The stories show the culture and society of FATA and the tribes living in these regions (Ahmad, Tahir & Asif, 2009). The tribes of these areas are famous for their valour and ruthlessness. Tor Baz (The Black Falcon) is an ordinary man who learned to live in hostile situations in different tribes living where the borders of Pakistan, Iran, and Afghanistan meet. The name ‘The Wandering Falcon’ is assigned to the book because Tor Baz – the protagonist– wanders in different tribes that are famous for their culture and honour. They were not formally educated, nor could they read or write, but they knew well about social values (Inskeep, 2011). Patriarchy is one of the standard features of these tribes. Jamil Ahmad, in the book, points out the unequal treatment of men and women. However, the type of language he uses in the book suggests that although patriarchy prevails in their culture, neither the women nor the men are aware of their wrongdoings. Honour is the primary trait of any tribal Pashtun; a person’s life is less important than the family’s honour. These lessons were learned by Jamil Ahmad when he was assigned as the Assistant Commissioner of the tribal region. 

Postmodern Cultural Feminism Theory (Ebert, 1988) has been selected to perform the textual analysis of Jamil Ahmad’s work of art. This theory proposes that the problem of gender inequality is based upon the social construction of gender. A person is nothing but a representation of the society in which he/she is born and bred (Riggs, 2014). According to Ebert’s theory, gender is independent of the biological sex of a person. It is instead constructed by society. Society assigns roles to people based on their gender. Ebert defines ‘Patriarchy’ as:

“Patriarchy is the organization and division of all practices and signification in culture regarding gender and privileging one gender over the other, giving males control over female sexuality, fertility, and labour.” (Ebert, 1988, p. 19)

In The Wandering Falcon, Jamil Ahmad tried to portray that patriarchy is instilled in the culture of the tribes of these regions. As nobody knows about its existence, the people of these regions hardly ever complain about gender inequality. Instead, different roles have been assigned to people of both genders. However, men and women are not treated equally (Hussain, Arif, & Saleem, 2021). Many instances in the book profess that women are treated as objects which merely please and bring comfort to men.

There is a total of 9 short stories in Jamil Ahmad’s book, revolving around the hardships that the protagonist faced in his lifetime and how he adapted to different situations. The tone gives a sensational view of the customs of the tribes living in FATA by telling stories of some instances which depict the themes of poverty, honour, and patriarchy. For example, the first story sheds light on the life of a married woman and her servant, who ran away from their tribe because they were in love. As a result, they were involved in sexual activities, which was a severe crime to the people of that tribe. At the end of the chapter, they were found taking rest near a well and brutally killed. 

The husband is the sole defender of his wife in the tribal culture, and the wife follows his command. Therefore, men dominate women, and this trend is followed in almost all the areas of Pakistan, specifically in the tribal areas. For example, in the first story, the woman decorates her temporary home. She makes two towers beside the front door, and she waits desperately for her husband to return and give her a response about her artistry. Nevertheless, when the husband returns, he says he does not like the towers, and the girl diminishes them. 

“My love, take away the towers. There is something about them I do not like.” She stood still for a while, and then, as the meaning sank into her, she rushed frantically toward them and crumbled them back into clay (Ahmad, 2011, p. 9).

A woman is always bound to obey the command of the man in charge of her, which can be her father or her husband or even her son; however, she does not have her say in anything in her life. The example above indirectly states that the man is in charge of a woman’s life. She cannot disobey his husband at any cost.

A specific term is used in the book that shows how men used women to get benefits. To marry a woman, the man who is to marry her has to pay a ‘bride price’ to her father or her son to take the woman with her (Ahmad, 2011, p. 41). Such were the customs of the tribes living in FATA. However, there is nobody to question these customs because they are unaware of the realities. Social pressure has made the rules that only benefit the men and defend the customs made by them. They say, “No man respects his wife or her family unless he pays the price for her” (Ahmad, 2011, p. 42). Such is the logic provided by the tribal people to defend their harsh customs. 

There are multiple instances where customs such as taking the bride price led men to commit violent crimes. A person in the novel kidnaps a group of people for ransom because he needed to pay the bride price for the woman he married earlier. Because of poverty, many men could not marry their loved ones, as they had no money. The highest bidder takes the woman and marries her. Unless he pays a reasonable bride price, the age and behaviour do not matter. Patriarchy prevails in the tribal cultures of FATA. 

The writer reveals the darker side of the patriarchy in the tribal culture. He talks about a legendary mountain climber who lost his strength and valour due to his old age; As a result, his life became miserable, and he fled his home. However, before leaving his home, he sold his daughter for money and opium. 

Oh, he remembered now what had happened to Sherakai, the Tiger’s Daughter. Before he left, he had sold her to somebody for a pound of opium and a hundred rupees (Ahmad, 2011, p. 142).

Sherakai – the daughter of the mountain climber – was sold to a prince by her father. Her mother gathered money to repurchase her. It took her a year to save the money, but the prince refused to let her go, saying he would bed her as she is a lioness (Sherakai). 

It had taken prayers, pleadings, and luck—not to speak of her mother’s savings—to secure her return, and that, too, not before her master had attempted to prove his boast before he lost her. He had failed but mercifully had not damaged her seriously (Ahmad, 2011, p. 144).

The lines mentioned above tell a great deal about the ordinary lives of women. The women depicted in the novel struggled as daughters, wives, and mothers. Even though she does not ever live a comfortable life, she is misused by men in unimaginable ways. In the lines mentioned above, Sherakai was not even ten years old before the prince had tried to rape her. The powerlessness of women could also be understood by the fact that the mother of a child was refused even when she was ready to pay money for her child. Only women cared for their daughters; men had no respect or love for them in their eyes.

Through the character of Sherakai, Jamil Ahmad has tried to expose that women, despite being devoted and strong throughout their lives, are misused and tortured by men and cannot question it. For example, when she was married to a poor nomad by her mother, she bore three girls; because of that, her mother-in-law disliked her. She believed that girls bring lousy luck to families (Ahmad, 2011). Nevertheless, that is nothing compared to what happened to her later when she was kidnapped and sold in Mian Mandi, a famous slave trading market.

Another aspect of the tribal patriarchy depicted by Jamil Ahmad in the novel is that the women on many occasions were treated just like animals, stated as, “Like animals, women have a vulvar or woman cost” (Gul & Imran, 2017, p. 24). It seemed as if women were bought by those who wanted to marry them and the best buyer took the reward. Nevertheless, this is just one of the examples of women living like animals in tribal areas. For example, Shah Zarina – a beautiful daughter of a mullah named Fateh Mohammed, was married to a man who owned a bear after paying a handsome bride price.

Her husband had more respect and love for the bear than Shah Zarina. The Patriarchal society had made people believe that women were ordinary creatures, inferior even to animals. When animals tried to attack the husband’s bear, he would try to defend the beastly animal, and Shah Zarina was left alone to protect herself and the dowry. Such was the harshness inflicted and bored by women.

“The party—the husband and the bear in front, and Shah Zarina with her dowry on her head bringing up the rear—walked mile after mile. Every time they approached a village, she would drop farther behind, as noisy children would collect around the bear and walk along with it until the village was left behind” (Ahmad, 2011, p. 162).

After they had rented a room for residence in the city, the room was occupied by a bear at night and Shah Zarina during the day. 

“She could not understand why the bear had to have a room, and they could not. Once, she asked her husband. He looked at her coldly and said, “I can get another wife but not another bear.” She was bewildered” (Ahmad, 2011, p. 164).

Although Shah Zarina did her best to please her husband, she made food for him and the bear. Moreover, she cleaned the room for the bear when it was away with her husband. Finally, she would prepare the room for its return. However, even then, the life of a human being was considered worse than that of an animal. However, there was no one to question such a treatment, as it was considered normal by the people. 

It was not the worst that happened to Shah Zarina, as she got jealous of the bear, even though she realized the importance of the animal. When her jealousy got out of control, she tried to inflict pain upon the bear. 

"One day, she would pour water in the corner where the bear was tied and imagine it passing an uncomfortable night. Another day, she scattered some thorns on the floor. Over time, even this kind of pernicious mischief paled, and she resorted to more vicious tactics. For example, she mixed red chillies with the flour when she baked the bread for the bear. That night, the bear went hungry” (Ahmad, 2011, p. 164).

The next thing she did in jealousy was that she “hammered small nails” in the staff, which her significant other utilized on the bear to guarantee better performance. Her husband noted it, and after that, Shah Zarina was inflicted with pain beyond human endurance. 

“… He looked at Shah Zarina, who could not hide her smile. Her husband took the same staff and gave his wife the same number of blows as he had given the bear” (Ahmad, 2011, p.165).

Shah Zarina’s life worsened after that. “Her husband made sure that Shah Zarina would not get another chance to hurt the animal” (Ahmad, 2011). After that, her husband made her suffer just like the animal to realize that she cannot bring harm to something he likes. 

“If the bear ate his food, so did Shah Zarina. If it chose to go hungry, so would she. If the bear stayed awake during the night, Shah Zarina could not join her husband in the only quilt. In the morning, along with the bear, Shah Zarina would get her day’s beating” (Ahmad, 2011, p. 165).

The life of Shah Zarina tells us a lot about how the fantasies of an adolescent are spoiled in a patriarchal society. Women are made to be held by people like Shah Zarina’s husband, who treats a woman worse than his animal, knowing that she is a human being who cannot handle the pain as an animal does. Such is the control of a man on the woman he has married. Ebert (1988) has made an effort to make people understand that patriarchy runs in the veins of some cultures and tribal culture is undoubtedly one of those. The females are treated as weak characters who cannot participate in the politics of a family, while men are free to live as they like. Women like Shah Zarina bore the worst kinds of pain because they thought their lives meant something to the one she was married to, but that was not the case. She ran away from her husband and returned to her family, where everyone sobbed with her. However, soon her parents realized that she was becoming a burden to the family:

“Her husband is bound to come by any day. He will demand that she be handed over to him. That is his right. If we refuse, he will ask for the return of the bride price,” added her father. “But we have already spent the money!” her stepmother whined. “She has created a terrible problem for us all.”

After she acknowledged that, it became a problem for her family to leave home to be sold by a stranger to another stranger.

Women of the tribal areas were sold when married, and there were slave trading houses where they were given to the highest bidders. It can also be regarded as the treatment of women as animals. For example, both Shah Zarina and Sherakai were misguided by a man named Afzal Khan, who told them that he was taking them "to a place where rich and generous people come to employ help for their houses—like cooks and kitchen maids. They pay well and are kind to those they employ" (Ahmad, 2011, p. 167). In contrast, in reality, he was taking both of them to a slave-trading house where they would be sold to the highest bidder, and Afzal Khan got the money from them.

“They smiled secretly at each other. Thursday was the sale of women” (Ahmad, 2011, p. 171).

The girls living in the tribal areas spent their whole lives serving their fathers and other males in the house. They never got any education, and they were kept away from family and tribal politics; because of that, they were unaware of the life of the outside world. It is why those girls always lived fantasies about life outside their homes. However, unfortunately, the fantasies rarely represent the realities they would face once they left their homes after marriage.

Conclusion

He wrote Jamil Ahmad’s debut novel in the 1970s, but it was published in 2011 because her wife knew it was a masterpiece. It is written in a tone that depicts the importance of honour and culture in Pashtun tribes. The primary themes of his novel are the honour and valour existing in the foreign tribes. However, he also tries to show how the states of both Pakistan and Afghanistan have constantly been harsh to the tribal communities. The writer has also tried to expose the wrongdoings in the tribal communities. The prominent of those are normalizing severe crimes such as theft and kidnapping. With these problems, these communities also suffer from dilemmas such as patriarchy. The tribal women are unaware of their rights as their minds were shaped by society, which makes them believe that their sole purpose on this earth is to please men and to tend to their needs.

Men take women as objects which can provide them with wealth, pleasure, and comfort. Women of these areas spend their lives trying to bring comfort to their men, yet they are mistreated and looked down upon by men. According to Ebert (1988), because of the social construction of gender, a woman’s identity is established so that she never feels independent. Society creates her identity so that she is bound to bear the subjugation and mistreatment of their male counterpart; otherwise, she would be treated as an outcast. The findings of this study can be taught to students and other researchers can carry out research in the domain (Masood et al., 2021a, 2021b, Roohi et al., 2021). The implications of the study include that these writings should be taught at educational institutions to overcome to the issue (Masood et al., 2020a, 2020b).

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