Resisting Islamic patriarchy in Mukhtar Mai’s In the name of honor

Abstract

Mukhtar Mai’s memoir, In the Name of Honour advocates the rebellious role of women in Islamic male dominated mechanism that subordinates the role of the women. Patriarchal institutions like Muslim law, religion, and castism inferiorize the agency of women in the novel. The female characters are placed with dominant position to resist male chauvinistic mindset. Amidst the adverse environment, Mukhtaran Bibi, the protagonist and the speaker of the novel, stands against the conformist patriarchal Muslim by educating illiterate women in the society. Despite the insuperable hardships, she is able to challenge the society and its confined values. By projecting rebellion character Mukhtaran, the writer establishes the necessity of female resistance to assert female identity and to challenge the imposed gender subjugation upon Islamic women. Through the women characters and their bold representation, the writer appeals universal urgency to educate women to make them conscious about their rights. Keywords: resistance, castism, patriarchy, third world, feminism, subordination