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Female Sexuality In Ismat Chughtai's Lihaaf

1204 Words5 Pages

English A Literature HL
Written assignment

Analysis of the themes of corporeal oppression of women and neglect of female sexuality in Ismat Chughtai’s Lihaaf

Ismat Chughtai’s controversial 1942 short story, Lihaaf, interweaves the concepts of the fundamental institution of marriage in a patriarchal society with the neglect of female sexuality and desire. Chughtai, a radical feminist writer, reviews the establishment of the idea of a woman being reduced to a mere commodity by discussing the acquisitive aspects of marriage in a patriarchal society and the subsequent commodification and dehumanization of women to meet the expectations of society. Narrated through the innocent eyes of a pubescent girl reminiscing about her first confrontation with female sexuality and desire, the story describes the narrator’s initial uncertainty and hesitation and how this encounter has remained etched in her memory like a scar.

One of the major protagonists of the story, Begum Jaan, faces corporeal oppression within and outside the boundaries of her house. Her family married her off to the Nawab, who was of a much younger age, for mercenary purposes and in order to get rid of the societal taboo of her being an unmarried woman after coming of age. Since her family was financially challenged, she was treated as a mere object- a meagre part of a social enterprise who was forced to comply with the resolute norms of society. After being married to the Nawab, her sexuality and desires were

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