Black Bodies White Culture: A Black Feminist [Re]Construction of Race and Gender in Morrison's Paradise
'This article intends to explore and expose through the analysis of Morrison's Paradise how the Afro American female writers [re]construct the potential of Afro American ecriture feminine to seek the true freedom and empowerment of black women by appealing them to 'write-through bodies'. To achieve this purpose, this article articulates its theoretical agenda, through the exploration of the work of the outstanding, widely acknowledged award-winning, English speaking Afro American female writer: Toni Morrison. Though it aims to highlight the significance and contribution of the Afro American female novelists towards broadening the frontiers of 'ecriture feminine', it does not aim to offer the generalized history of women writing in Afro American literature. It seeks to propose alternative ways of informed analysis, grounded in discourse and Feminist theories, to evaluate Toni Morrison's contribution to 'ecriture feminine'.
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Race, Gender, Culture, Black Feminism, Morrison.
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(1) Mumtaz Ahmad
Assistant Professor, Department of English, Government Guru Nanak Postgraduate College, Nankana Sahib, Punjab, Pakistan.
(2) Fatima Saleem
Lecturer, Debarment of English, National University of Modern Languages, Faisalabad, Punjab, Pakistan.
(3) Ali Usman Saleem
Assistant Professor, Department of English, Government College University Faisalabad, Punjab, Pakistan.
Lived Experiences of Women Entrepreneurs Regarding Socio-Cultural Constraints in Entrepreneurship in Southern Punjab, Pakistan
The research paper investigates the socio-cultural constraints faced by women entrepreneurs during startup and expansion of their entrepreneurial ventures in Ahmedpur East of District Bahawalpur through documenting their lived experiences. The research is primarily a multi-sited ethnography and utilizes qualitative research methods such as in-depth semi-structured interviews and focused group discussions on collecting primary data from a selective sample of 25 entrepreneurs ascertained through sampling technique. The study highlights gender-specific socio-cultural challenges such as social perceptions and biases, work-life balance, patronage of male family members, restricted mobility owing to Purdah and low recognition and payment of women's work etc. as prime reasons that hinder not only women participation as entrepreneurs but also inhibits their engagements and choices in entrepreneurship. Socio-cultural factors not only systematically impact women's social interactions and decision-making but transform into multiple other challenges that women fight and struggle with while making their space as entrepreneurs.
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Ahmedpur East, Entrepreneurship, Gender, Lived Experiences, Multi-Sited Ethnography, Socio-Cultural Challenges, Southern Punjab, Women Entrepreneur
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(1) Mehreen Raza
M. Phil Scholar, Department of Anthropology, Quaid-e-Azam University, Islamabad, Pakistan.
(2) Inam Ullah Leghari
Assistant Professor, Department of Anthropology, Quaid-e-Azam University, Islamabad, Pakistan.
Gender Perception in Multi-cultural Classroom Discourse
Societies shape people in and outwards look with different connotations such as gender, attitude and behavior. Humans are the product of society, and each society is different in terms of the environment created by the dwellers. There are societal taboos that are common and similar in most societies of the world, but such cultural affinities are due to the geographical association and the impact of globalization. Common norm, which is practiced in one society is not acceptable in other society, whether it is within a country or in another country. For example, house chores and taking responsibility for the care of the husband is appreciated in Libya, but the same practice is not considered a stereotype in turkey. Women craze for ornaments in South Africa, similar to the customs in Libya and turkey. The discourse of the participants reveals a cultural perception that varies from person to person and culture to culture. Thoughts and behavior are made by society, and the same thoughts are changed with a wave of time.
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Multicultural, Discourse, Gender, Society, Behavior, Respondent
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(1) Samiullah Khan
Lasbela University of Agriculture Water and Marine Sciences, Uthal, Balochistan, Pakistan.
(2) Sanam Wagma Khattak
Lecturer, University of Peshawar, KP, Pakistan.
(3) Sarfaraz Ahmed Shaikh
Director, Indus Center for Sustainable Development, Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan.
English Literature Reading as Gendered Activity at Educational Primary Level
English is the certified language of Pakistan and intermediate of teaching in private schools. Learning an FL might be frustrating and challenging for some young learners. Stories in English as literature are an effective technique to teach young learners. This paper attempts to explore if reading stories in English as part of literature is a gendered activity with differences of interest by boys and girls. The study used a Reading Attitude Survey modified from Downing Object Activity Opinion and the Finnish questionnaire. The findings depict that stories in the schoolbooks are enthusiastic and are suitable according to learners' curiosity and standard. Results further specified that the general mainstream of students understands reading as an action that is more appropriate for girls, thus supportive of the study's hypothesis. The results also suggested that the gender-based insights strengthen with age for both boys and girls.
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Literature in English, Reading, English Curriculum, Gender
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(1) Zainab Akram
Assistant Professor, Department of English, Sardar Bahadur Khan Women's University, Quetta, Balochistan, Pakistan.
(2) Sadia Suleman Khan
Assistant Professor, Department of Education, Sardar Bahadur Khan Women's University, Quetta, Balochistan, Pakistan.
(3) Maroof Bin Rauf
Assistant Professor, Department of Education, University of Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan.
Acid Violence in Pakistan: A Study on Women Victims of Acid Attacks in Karachi
Acid violence is a horrible act of gender violence in orthodox societies. A study was conducted to know the reasons for the acid violence against women in Pakistani society. For this purpose, female acid attack survivors were recruited from Karachi city of Sindh province in Pakistan. We found personal conflicts and rejection of marriage proposals as major reasons for acid attacks on women. The majority of the victims are being humiliated due to disfiguring of body parts and forced to live in isolation. This study recommends strong legal framework preparation by government authorities to curb such incidents and rehabilitate acid victims.
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Acid Violence, Gender Violence, Women Victims, Pakistan
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(1) Sadia Ismail
MS Scholar, SMI University, Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan.
(2) Subhash Guriro
Associate Professor, Department of Social Development, SMI University, Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan.
(3) Muhammad Kamil Lakho
Lecturer, Department of Social Development, SMI University, Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan.
Gender Subversion: A Cultural Reconsideration through a Fairy Tale
The following paper tries to socially understand gender norms and the possibility of subversion of the recommended roles. Judith Butlers (1990) Performative theory of gender acts, discussed probability of gender subversion in various societal conceptualizations of gender. The undertaken study, through thematic analysis, investigated particular characters in a fairy tale, The land of stories: Beyond the kingdom (2015). It was found that gender was a social construct, and it existed due to repeated and accepted socially ascribed practices. The characters reconsidered gender through subversion by breaching the expected traditional societal gender norms. Though, for the intelligibility, these reconsidered gender roles needed recurrence. The findings also seemed to assert that the subversive acts could be shocking and unacceptable, but, they do not possess the potential to terminate the established gender norms, rather, just assist the characters to meet their ends, towards fresh identities and roles in the extensive societal dominion.
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Gender, Gender Subversion, Societal and Cultural Norms, Fairy tale
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(1) Zainab Akram
Assistant Professor,Department of English,Sardar Bahadur Khan Womens University Quetta, Balochistan, Pakistan.
(2) Uzma Imtiaz
Assistant Professor,Department of English,Fatima Jinnah Women's University Rawalpindi, Punjab, Pakistan.
(3) Sumaira Shafiq
Assistant Professor, Institute of Kashmir Studies,University of Azad Jammu and Kashmir Muzaffarabad, Pakistan.
Women, History And Faith: Suleri's Critique Of Pakistan's National Culture In Meatless Days And Boys Will Be Boys
Sara Suleri is divided between her fascination for her father's strong character and her repulsion for the consequent effect on woman's space in family life, connoting a critique of Pakistani patriarchal society in which women, irrespective of their social status, suffer from marginalization. Although Suleri's Boys Will Be Boys is an elegy for her father, as she announces in the sub-title of the work, she manages her tilt toward her father despite her advocacy of the woman's space miserably shrunk to domestic life in Pakistani society. Besides womenÂ’s position, she questions the dominant version of history and the state's political manipulation of religion for ulterior motives. She is close to Boehmer's theorization of the elitist continuities and intimacies with a view that develops from geographically and historically multiple contexts and histories. Her role as a native intellectual is two-pronged: her view is colored by Western discourse, but her status as a 'representative' Pakistani voice is also significant. This article analyzes how far Suleri's representation of women, religion and history of Pakistani society is colored by Western context.
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Pakistani Literature in English, Nation, Representation, Feminism, Patriarchy, Gender, Sara Suleri
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(1) Ghulam Murtaza
Associate Professor, Department of English, GC University Faisalabad, Faisalabad, Punjab, Pakistan.
(2) Mazhar Hayat
Professor, Department of English, GC University Faisalabad, Faisalabad, Punjab, Pakistan.
(3) Syed Ali Waqar Hashmi
Research Assistant, Department of English, GC University Faisalabad, Faisalabad, Punjab, Pakistan.
Demographic Variation and Stress Management Skills
The objectives of the study were focused on the demographic factor-based comparison of stress management skills of university-level teachers. 1362 teachers from faculty of Social Sciences serving in universities of Islamabad were taken as target population for the study. 412 teachers were selected as samples by using stratified sampling technique. Data was collected through a self-developed questionnaire that was based on seven stress management strategies. In accordance with the objectives t-test and ANOVA were applied. Results revealed that university employees with 15-20 years of experience in (Public sector) were more skilled in managing stressful situations. Stress management skills were found better in females than males. Furthermore, teachers serving in public sector universities were found more capable of dealing with stress. The study recommended that top management of educational institutions may redesign their workplace environment as making it more conducive for employees with reference to occupational stress management.
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Stress Maangement, Job Experience, Gender, Work Experience, Demographic Variation
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(1) Saira Nudrat
Assistant Professor,Department of Education, National University of Modern Languages, Islamabad, Punjab, Pakistan.
(2) Qurat ul ain Hina
Assistant Professor,Department of Education, National University of Modern Languages, Islamabad, Punjab, Pakistan.
(3) Shazia Zamir
Assistant Professor, Department of Education, National University of Modern Languages, Islamabad, Punjab, Pakistan.
Elements of Feminism in Language of Childrens Animations
In todays modern globalized world, the power and impact of media in different aspects of human life are universally acknowledged. The elements of feminism in media have been widely researched in the past, but, how feminist ideas are portrayed in childrens media largely remains unexplored. The aim of this research is to explore the presentation of feminist concepts, notions, and ideas in a specific genre of childrens media – animations – through verbal and non-verbal language including verbal discourse, expressions, and overall communicative symbolism. The sample of the study consists of fourteen famous animations which are selected through purposive sampling. The results reveal that the feminist ideas and concepts presented deal with the empowerment and liberation of women, and hinted towards real-life womens issues such as education, adolescence, abuse, oppression, gender equality in work and employment, personal choice and other political, social and economic issues rather than presenting stereotypical image of women.
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Feminism, Language, Gender, Animation, Media
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(1) Izzah Shahid
Student,Department of English,Fatima Jinnah Women University, The Mall, Rawalpindi, Punjab, Pakistan.
(2) Fakhira Riaz
Assistant Professor,Department of English,Fatima Jinnah Women University, The Mall, Rawalpindi, Punjab, Pakistan.
(3) Akifa Imtiaz
Assistant Professor,Department of English,Fatima Jinnah Women University, The Mall, Rawalpindi, Punjab, Pakistan.
Impact of Teachers Personal Characteristics on Their Job Satisfaction in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan
Job satisfaction has mostly been investigated in both developed and developing countries because it has a strong relationship with job outcomes. This paper focuses on investigating the job satisfaction level and also explores impact of some selected personal characteristics of teachers on job satisfaction in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. The study used quantitative research design. From the seven divisional headquarter districts, researchers selected 744 senior secondary school teachers (SSST) through a stratified random sampling method. The teachers job satisfaction level was found high. The findings revealed that teachers gender, age, experience, academic and professional qualifications have significant effect on their job satisfaction. These personal characteristics have significant impact and predict teachers job satisfaction. It is suggested that the government should bring such reforms in the service structure which leads to increase the social status of teaching occupation and positive feelings among secondary school teachers opting to teach as a career.
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Academic Qualification, Age, Experience, Gender, Job satisfaction, Professional Qualification
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(1) Iqbal Amin Khan
Lecturer,Department of Education, University of Malakand, Chakdara, Dir Lower, KP, Pakistan.
(2) Munir Khan
Assistant Professor,Department of Education, University of Malakand, Chakdara, Dir Lower, KP, Pakistan.
(3) Mohammad Naseer ud Din
Professor, Department of Education and Psychology, Kohat University of Science & Technology, Kohat, KP, Pakistan.