Patriarchy, Feminism and Sexuality in Bapsi Sidhwa's 'Cracking India'

Abstract

The Post-colonial theorists such as Homi Bhabha, Edward Said, Paul Gilory and Ashcroft observe that the colonial ideologies were used to dehumanize and marginalize women. Women of the colonized society were treated as the "other". Spivak discusses this issue in her essay: " Can the Subaltern Speak?",and highlights the marginalized status of women of the native society. Partition was an unprecedented political event; millions of people became homeless, innumerable women were widowed, raped and killed as there was no law and order. In this paper the efforts are made to depict the role of patriarchy in promoting the sexual oppression of women in Pakistan. Bapsi Sidhwa is modern feminist of Pakistan who raises the cry of women in her novels 'Cracking India' and 'The Pakistani Bride'. The dilemmas of the colonized women and their traumatic experiences are the main research area in this research paper.