The Aesthetics of Violence and Diverse Sexualities in the Fiction of Bapsi Sidhwa- new wave of Feminism in Pakistan

Abstract

In the post-colonial fiction of Bapsi Sidhwa female body has been used as a salable commodity in the traditional patriarchal society of Pakistan. Women are sexually oppressed and exploited as religion and morality are silent spectators there. The plight of women in Pakistan society is quite apparent and the newspapers are packed with the episodes of rapes and sexual oppression of women. The political reforms are insignificant as women are treated as the second class citizens in Pakistan. They are not allowed to enjoy freedom and are forced to observe purdah since men are considered superiors to women. The novels of Bapsi Sidhwa depict the plight of women who are subjected to the terror of male domination. In her novels; The Pakistani Bride, Cracking India and An American Brat Bapsi Sidhwa describes the sufferings of women who are treated as the “Other.”  Sidhwa’s novel Cracking India describes the endless sufferings of women who are trapped in the power structure of men and are always treated as objects of sexual pleasures and not individuals. The Pakistani society is patriarchal, repressive, oppressive giving privileges to men and its harsh treatment of women, justified in the name of cultural traditions and religion. In this society men are born with respect, dignity and worth whereas women are considered as salable commodities. Men are considered as individuals and women are thought of as bodies.