UNVEILING PATRIARCHAL SUBJUGATION OF WOMEN: A FEMINIST STUDY OF BINA SHAH’S BEFORE SHE SLEEPS
Keywords:
Patriarchy, Feminism, Women’s subjugation, Marginalization, Commodification, ResistanceAbstract
Patriarchal systems exert a profound influence on societal structures, frequently reducing women to the status of objects or commodities within cultural, political, and social frameworks. This entrenched condition necessitates rigorous scholarly inquiry. Within this context, the present study undertakes an analysis of women’s subjugation in Bina Shah’s dystopian novel Before She Sleeps, employing feminist theoretical perspectives. Shah, an acclaimed Pakistani author, constructs a stark depiction of a society in which women’s agency, identities, and bodies are subjected to systematic regulation, surveillance, and commodification under male-dominated authority. The research critically interrogates the socio-political mechanisms sustaining such commodification, highlighting the resulting marginalization and dehumanization of women. Concurrently, it foregrounds the resilience of female characters, illustrating their persistent struggles for autonomy and acts of resistance against entrenched objectification. The analysis of the selected text demonstrates that in Shah’s fictional society, women are denied recognition as fully realized individuals and are primarily valued for their reproductive function. Moreover, the novel’s portrayal of gender-based oppression offers a salient contribution to contemporary feminist discourse, particularly in relation to women’s rights, bodily autonomy, and modes of resistance within dystopian literature. In doing so, this research affirms the capacity of dystopian fiction to serve as a critical site for challenging and deconstructing patriarchal ideologies.
Downloads
References
Alvira, F., & Setyowati, A. (2021). Gender discrimination against women in Bina Shahs Before She Sleeps: A review on the main character. Journal Albion: Journal of English Literature, Language, and Culture, 3(2).
Asif, M., Qaisar, M., & Iftikhar, T. (2021). Analysing spatial resistance in postmodern urban space: A hetero/dystopic study of Bina Shah’s Before She Sleeps. Pakistan Languages and Humanities Review, 5(2), 589-601.
Bashir, S., & Tanveer, M. M. (2024). From reluctance to rebellion: A Foucauldian analysis of Bina Shah’s Before She Sleeps. Journal of Development and Social Sciences, 5(4), 201-211.
Beauvoir, S. de. (1982). The second sex (H. M. Parshley, Trans. & Ed.). Penguin. (Original work published 1949)
Bhat, M. U., & Riyaz, A. (2022). Patriarchy and subjugation: A study of Bapsi Sidwa’s The Pakistani Bride. The Criterion: An International Journal in English, 13(2), 297-303.
Chaudhuri, A. (2021). Jane Austen’s novels: A study from feminist perspective. The Creative Launcher, 6(5), 130-136.
Fauzia, S. N., & Rahayu, A. C. (2019). Women’s struggle against patriarchy: An analysis of radical feminism through Nadia Hashimi’s A House Without Windows. Anaphora: Journal of Language, Literary, and Cultural Studies, 2(1), 1-9.
Fitriani, A. N., & Sulasih, N. (2022). The patriarchal culture in Michelle Kadarusman’s Girl of the Southern Sea: A feminism study. Berumpun: International Journal of Social, Politics, and Humanities, 5(1), 29-39.
Goyal, S. (2020). Patriarchy overpowers everything in Meena Kandasamy’s When I hit you: Or, the portrait of the writer as a young wife. Research Journal of English, 5(3), 401–407. https://doi.org/10.17159/2312-3621/2018/v31n2a5
Hiwarkhedka, S. M., & Sharma, A. (2024). Patriarchal dominance in English literature. International Research Journal on Advanced Engineering and Management, 2(4), 1228-1231.
Kanwal, N., & Iqbal, N. (2024). (Sub)version of power and Pakistani women’s narratives: A feminist study of Shah’s Before She Sleeps. Southern Journal of Arts & Humanities, 2(2), 18-28
Kealey, L. (1979). A not unreasonable claim: Women and reform in Canada (pp. 6-8). Women’s Educational Press.
Mahajan, A. (2016). Bapsi Sidhwa’s Novel,’Ice Candy-Man’: Highlights feminist concern about women issues, particularly their experience of victimization and suppression within patriarchal societies. Research Journal of English Language and Literature (RJELAL) A Peer Reviewed (Refereed) International Journal, 4, 736-742.
Mortaza, A. (2023). Commodification of women in Bina Shah’s Before She Sleeps: A feminist critique. Journal of Positive School Psychology, 7(2), 37-45.
Mumtaz, D., & Kaur, J. (n.d.). The subjugation of Muslim women as ‘other’ in Qaisra Shahraz’s The Holy Woman. Literary Druid, 4(2), 12-17.
Qasim, Z., Afzal, M., & Ali, F. (2024). Patriarchal subjugation of women in Sabyn Javeri’s Hijabistan: A feminist perspective. Journal of Applied Linguistics and TESOL (JALT), 7(4), 171-184.
Regina, G., & Setyowati, A. (2020). The main character’s independence in Qaisra Shahraz’s The Holy Woman. Journal Albion: Journal of English Literature, Language, and Culture, 2(1).
Shah, B. (2020). Before she sleeps. London, United Kingdom: Pan Macmillan.
Shaheen, R., Khokhar, M. I., & Noonari, A. U. (2024). Representation of women in Bina Shah’s Before She Sleeps: A postcolonial feminist analysis. Jahan-e-Tahqeeq, 7(2), 595-606.
Tandon, N. (2008). Feminism: A paradigm shift. New Delhi, India: Atlantic Publishers and Distributors (P) Ltd.
Trivedi, R., & Tiwari, R. (2016). Patriarchal system and the condition of women. Notions, 4(6), 1-6.
Zubair, H. B., Khan, M. Y., & Taj, S. (2020). Analysing escalating feminist voices against patriarchy in Jane Smiley’s A Thousand Acres. Academic Journal of Social Sciences, 4(3), 600-611.
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2025 Samra Batool, Dr Professor Mashar Hayat (Author)
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
