A Body Worth Nothing: A Feminist Critique of Patriarchal Oppression in Daniyal Mueenuddin’s Saleema

Abstract

This paper provides a feminist criticism of patriarchal oppression of the Daniyal Mueenuddin’s short story Saleema where the question of female identity and its autonomy as well as corporeality is critically undermined as a systematically exploited social category in a feudal and patriarchal social order. The story of Saleema, a casual laborer who has been treated like an object and emotionally abandoned, is the observation of a junction regarding gender, class, and sexuality in postcolonial Pakistan. Through the theoretical prism of feminist theorists including Simone de Beauvoir, Judith Butler, the study questions the construction of female body as object of desire and dispossession. The aspect of marginalization of Saleema highlights the social systems that diminish females to objects of convenience in male-dominated spheres. This research deals with the double victimization of lower class women in patriarchal Pakistani society, revealing the intersection of gender, class and power. Employing qualitative textual method, this study examines subjugation and commodification of Saleema, through language, characterization and context of the story. The study results in revealing prejudices about women while also highlighting the harsh realities they face. Future research should focus on comparative feminist readings of South Asian literature for exploring oppression and consequential reaction of women.

Keywords: Feminism, Commodification, Gender exploitation, Patriarchy, Socio-economic oppression.