The battered woman
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Date
2021
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Publisher
UMT.Lahore
Abstract
This study explores the idea of cultural-feminism concerning the concepts of socio-cultural influence in a stereotypical society, in Afia Nathaniel’s drama-thriller film, “Dukhtar” (2014). The Pakistani cinema has been gradually flourishing since the mid-2000s after almost a complete decline. The main reason behind this revival is the multiple social issues, which are being filmed in Pakistani cinema, like terrorism, social identity, violence, and gender discrimination. “Dukhtar” is one of the masterpieces which specifically argue on the topics of oppression and patriarchy. Mary Daly’s (1978) concept of “battered woman” is the main concern in the movie. Nathaniel has presented the plight of this “battered woman” through the character of the female protagonist, Allah Rakhi. Moreover, she has also critically shown the socio-cultural influence of patriarchy in the movie. This study explores the concepts of gender profiling, patriarchal stereotypes and femicide in the movie. This qualitative descriptive study presents a visual analysis of “Dukhtar” by using the feminist approach. Furthermore, J. R. Searle’s theory of Speech Acts has been applied in this research to highlight the feminist aspects in the movie through the critical analysis of the dialogues. This study prioritizes the importance of social change to come from within the community, by providing the possible role model for a Pakistan that is free of oppression and gender stereotypes. It will also provide an aperture for the cultural feminist exploration for the future researchers.