GENDERED DISCURSIVE PRACTICES’: FROM TEXTBOOKS TO PAKISTANI URDU DIGESTS

Abstract

Certain ideals of feminine beauty are paramount in the stories of Pakistani Urdu digests. Rendered as
jovial, the female protagonist is matched to a reputed, handsome, most prominently a professional man
who secures her a happy life. The present study focuses how customary representation of gender roles
sustains in the narratives of different Urdu digests during a span of ten years maintaining the
conventional representation of gender roles. The study examines the enforced stereotype portrayal of
woman in Urdu Digests through exaggeration and subversion, representing her to be an ideally good
girl, unequivocally beautiful, kind, and compassionate. Sunderland’s working model of gendered
discursive practices (2002) in relation to textbooks (originally created for teacher’s talk around the text)
has been adopted partially and modified to conform to the present study. The study finds the digest
stories persistently undermine female roles by perpetuating stereotypes and reinforcing their image as
one-dimensional. The study is helpful in understanding the role of print media creating a deadlock in
the identity construction of women in Pakistani society. It also highlights the traditional concepts
endorsed through such stories. A study can be conducted in future highlighting stereotypical
representation of women in contemporary Pakistani dramas to reinforce patriarchal structures that
designate gender imbalance, predominantly in the middle class of Pakistani society.