Manipulation of Religion as a Tool for Oppression: A Feminist Analysis of Faiqa Mansab’s This House of Clay and Water as a Mirror of Contemporary Pakistani Society

Author(s) : Sidra Shahid

Abstract:

The present research will be a study of FaiqaMansab’s This House of Clay and Water through the lens of Feminism. The conceptual framework of this qualitative research will be based on Pakistani Feminism, which is derived from Third World Feminism and Islamic Feminism. The key issues of this study will include an in-detail analysis of the manipulation of religion by Pakistani men to oppress women which is the cause of the major areas of struggle for most women here, including domestic violence, honor killing, and the pain Pakistani women have to endure in order to locate their identities outside of their familial relationships. The research will represent, through the characters of the selected book, the fact that the road to salvation is paved with pain and sufferings but the light at the end keeps the women motivated and consistent. The research will further explore how feminism helps provide emancipation to oppressed women through the characters of the selected book. The study of the novel depicting marginalization of women belonging to different social classes in Pakistan will help us comprehend ways in which women suffer patriarchal oppression in Pakistan and how religion is used more as a weapon, a tool for domination instead of a path of faith.
Keywords: Religious manipulation, gender oppression, feminism, marginalization, patriarchal oppression, emancipa