Daily Times

Unlike its myriad academic counterparts, literature does not wield the prospects of exonerating itself from the saddles of reformation and rehabilitation of society along the egalitarian demarcations. The illumination of grotesque and heinous dungeons of ignorance earmarks the rudimentary aim of literature which consequentially catalyzes the empirical galvanization of resources for the requisite attitudinal recuperation of any society. As the social epochs of reminiscent yore can substantiate, patriarchy has remained paramount within the kaleidoscopic spheres of the globe. The prevalence of intellectual deserts conducive to the profligacy of patriarchy with infinitesimal traces of androgynous fecundity warrants the decisive intervention of literature in resuscitating the dormant discourses, marginalized masses, alienated alliances and divorced dispensations. Thus, the contribution of temperate literature in the deglaciation of deleterious frosty shields of gender binaries engendering pernicious fumes of inequalities warrants requisite accentuation.

Literature strives to academically sensitize insouciant citizenry regarding the complacently disregarded onslaught of their activities, beliefs, proclivities and propensities devouring upon the vitals of their socially subaltern classes. To elucidate, the stupefaction towards the inequality waged against females arrives under trenchant scrutiny when deciphered by unimpeachable literary lenses. The conflation of women with chattels and their incessant derailment from the socially solvent, economically fructuous and pecuniarily remunerative abodes sheds light upon the inveterate alienation towards the feminine gender. The recantation of these polarizing parameters and dichotomized delineations are rectified by the literature which espouses ameliorating the adulterated social conditionality engulfing the global landscape from erstwhile eras. Literature vivisects the innocuously canonized compartmentalization of genders which serves in systematically enabling the binaries and consequentially cementation and social reinforcement of mutual inequalities. Nevertheless, it is not to imply that literature is itself absolved from the perpetration of atrocities against the feminine gender as Shakespeare terms, “Frailty, thy name is woman”. Yet the emanation of counter-narrative from the very literary receptacles bestows literature with receptiveness and immutable conviction for amphibiously countering the gusts of patriarchy and debilitating currents of fraternal paternalism. To substantiate, Virginia Woolf in her work amorphously constructs a character “Judith Shakespeare” which she patently illustrates in congruous parameters to the society as her irrefutable talent would have been stifled under the patronizing aegis of society. Thus, the declaration of women as a consortium of criminality and conglomeration of frailty constitutes the preordainment of women’s subservience to their masculine counterparts. Axiomatically, the dependence of inutile and enervated upon the astronomically puissant and robust constitutes universal principles. So, the literature analyses the imperative prerequisite of gendered autarky as an empirical and pragmatic antecedent to gender egalitarianism.

Nevertheless, there remain myriad fronts warranting the Horizontality of authority for the attainment of equality within the polarized pastures of the global society. Systematically, to systemically subjugate the authority of one gender it compellingly demands the paramount hierarchy of its competing contemporary. So, to materialize this grotesque anticipation, society orchestrates a barometer of genders for competency calibrations and yardsticks for credibility measurements. To substantiate, while the piezometer to gauge the proportionality of a male contender for marriage gravitates upon his financial ability the women are ensnared within the precincts of untenable ostentatiousness.

The declaration of women as consortium of criminality and conglomeration of frailty constitutes preordainment of women’s subservience.

The incautious yet pernicious comments insinuate the subservience of women, “She was thin and dark. Boys nowadays demand a white skin.” (The Bhorwani Marriage) radiantly accentuating the trivialization of femininity. These undercurrents of division are the source of fueling the gender inequalities and the hydrocarbons of the aforementioned dichotomy mobilize the reinforcement of mutual binaries of the contemporary hominids. The reliance on the vocational ability of the grooms is a testament to the veracity of clandestine social engineering. The criteria to contrast competencies are inadvertently synonymous with the encouragement of those thresholds. On one hand where society incentivizes males to venture for remunerative and productive labour for the prospective progression of their matrimonial bilateralisms. Contrastingly, society categorically saddles women with unremunerative and reproductive labour for the eventuation of their commitment and portrayal of their resolve for the materialization of their nuptial obligations.

Literature ventures into symmetrically divorced discourses which are complacently incorporated, reprehensibly perpetuated and incriminatingly condoned, in an attempt to illuminate their partisan entrails. So, when the story of marriage unveils the preluding standards of marriage and asymmetrical power relations of both the engaged genders, literature roundly recalculates the societal hypocrisy and generates inarticulate cacophonies for prioritization of the relegated and subaltern faction of the society.

Architecturally, the sculpting of material facades and the consequential assembly of commodities inordinately influence the staunchness of masses attached to the system. The puissance of women pales into disproportional dystrophy when the structural orchestrations around them jeopardize their mobility. The words of Kamala Das in Running Away from Home, “There is no lavatory on the trains, what are we women supposed to do…”. The prospects of equating these phrases with dereliction and insouciance remain radiant yet the chances of their psychometric analysis yield grains of introspection into the engraved patriarchy engulfing our indiscernible yet putatively evident social landscape. The inveterate obscurantism vis-à-vis to rights of women besieging even their defecation process warrants radical reconfiguration on the part of a society which capitalizes upon the confinement of its feminine gender.

Architectural determinism, inarticulately accentuated in this unimpeachable and roundly relevant subcontinental literature, serves as the constructed ramifications for women if they attempt to tread upon the unchartered territories of society. The ensuing diatribes, insensitive castigations and detrimental admonishments notwithstanding, the evident absence of restrooms for women within the precincts of society inevitably dictates the confinement of their inhospitable selves within the pernicious premises of their homes which can be objectively accredited as perennial enshrinements. Moreover, the expiation of these moratoriums is elicited by patriarchal patronage which becomes an inalienable substation for the subsistence of women. In the absence of recourse, the inadvertent reliance upon patriarchal patronage becomes an axiomatic conclusion. The contribution of literature in the recrudescence of the recalcitrant relegated discourses of alienation compellingly elicits commendation. Yet the retention of dormancy of these subjects owing to the incessant truancy of resolve within the chambers of communities compromises the commitment of literature to emancipate the ensnared women within the entrapments of patriarchy. Independently, the asphyxiating dependence of one gender over its counterpart constitutes an inextricable phenomenon of exploitation. In the absence of autarky, the presence of chronic reliance becomes plausible in its most grotesque formation practicable. Thus, when Kamala Das terms, “not having gone out much in three years except with her husband in his car, always too busy to give her outings” he diametrically insinuates the plaguing inundations submerging women under the raging waves of subservience. Women remain incarcerated within their abodes and their lives become conditional to the psychological fluctuation of their male chaperons. Literature forces the obliterated discourses of women and sheds light upon the pernicious nexus of reliance and exploitation.

Sexually, the asymmetrical physical representations and deliberately cultivated canonization of women’s sexuality foster auxiliary concerns for women. The totem pole of society designates women within the abjectly subaltern echelons when the hyper-sensitization of their physicality is materialized. The story “Running Away from Home” roundly condemns the passive prevalence and complacent retention of such cultures. The writer galvanizes the dormant ratiocination of society by clandestinely insinuating, “feeling the eyes of men on her breasts”. These ostensibly innocuous remarks are in essence a clarion portrayal of psychological compromise which women endure and resign to its condescending and parochial ordains daily. The myopic encapsulation of women within the abominable abodes of sexual gratifications not only obfuscates their prospective ability to shatter the Glass Ceiling but also encumbers their potential development towards the distant shores of egalitarianism. The retentive speculations of imploring gazes and terminal scrutinization through unfettered optical incinerations by men towards women force them for self-incarceration and prioritization of autarkical enshrinements over mobilized thoroughfares inhabited by their male contemporaries. Resultantly, the Men are mobilized upon the remunerative carpets of concrete- Roads- while women are confined within the unwaged and reproductive morbidities of home. The formative stages of their systematic alienation and perpetual marginalization are constructed through clandestine impediments which incentivize captivity while flagrantly castigating emancipation. Literature leaps to decipher these consumed cryptographic arrangements and forces the recantation of perennially preservationist stances to replenish the desiccated coffers of gender equality and augmentation of clout wielded by women, if any.

Politically, literature leaps to accentuate the doctrine of stare decisis in which the puissance of precedents is vehemently underscored while illuminating the discourse of emulation. Notwithstanding the emanation of blistering radiances of buoyance on the divisive eve of demarcation within the Historic periphery- colony- of the subcontinent, the marginal priority accorded to the lives of people concerned bears testimony to the spectres of democracy. To elucidate, the festivities engulfing the fledgling Pakistan accompanied by the cacophony of celebrations drowned down the relatively infinitesimal entreaties of disadvantageous masses who bore the brunt of national decisions. In the teleological paradigm, it would be objectively implausible to resile from the official narrative canonizing the fructuous yields of independence. Nevertheless, one must eventuate a tactical retreat and decipher the worth of indubitably trivialized masses who were transferred to their emergent abode as chattels and enumerated as passive statistics.

Manto, the harbinger of literature and its ensuing sensitivities embarks on a literary voyage within the oceans of ignorance and insouciance in a quest to locate islands of altruism yet culminates his peregrination by locating demoted and deserted archipelagos of enlightenment. So, to bring the abandoned and fallow pastures to the fore of fecundity he obliterates confessional differences, doctrinal dichotomies and religious realms to eviscerate the polarizing abodes and generates an empathetic dwelling for the neglected and forsaken factions of society. In Toba Tek Singh, he designates the plight of a “lunatic” as the barometer to gauge the strength of partition and its affiliated emotions. The prioritization of a solitary actor within the teeming demography of millions to calibrate the authenticity of partition might be envisaged as a glacial advancement of intellectual pursuit for ascertaining the veracity of ubiquitous sentiments yet bespectacled with the lens of altruism, Manto’s configuration of gauging piezometer accredits the concept of humanism.

In his words Manto terms, “One of the lunatics got so caught up with this rigmarole of Pakistan and Hindustan that he became many shades madder”. On another occasion he attempts to pave the way for the sections consigned to the margins of society by phrasing, “Bishan Singh begged the man who called himself God to pass the necessary orders and thus end his stalemate”. These abortive attempts by the inquisitors to ascertain the geographical relevancy of their generational and ancestral residences earmark the passive indigestibility of the palpably delectable partition. Literature discerns through the dominant narratives and bestows voice to the suppressed sections of society which are alienated collectively owing to the dearth of their demographic capital or paucity of revered resources.

?Sexually, the totem pole of biological intercourse inordinately bestows masculine partners with dominance within the venereal chambers. The inarticulacy of such a perennially prevalent hierarchy bodes detrimental for the disadvantageous partner yet the imperviousness of the aggressor curtails the prospects of its rectification. The oceanic floor of the society entails the refused traces of inequality which devours its marine ecology which remains relegated to insouciant forefronts. The salience of sexual superiority slaughters the notions of equality and humanism at the optical altars of unilateral gratification. Manto explicitly uncoils the labyrinthine mystery of sexual subservience while phrasing the condescending remarks of Ishar Singh, “(He) held her kameez at the neck with both hands and removed it from her body like a goat being stripped off her skin…… He pinched her arm”.

The structural school of thought holds insularity in strategic abeyance and advocates the prevalence of collectivism in the materialization of the goal of joint survival. Conversely, the disparity of power definitions prevalent within the stigmatized and strategically shrouded dwellings of sexuality forces the emergence of inevitable hierarchy which consequentially paves the way for exploitation of the relatively meagre counterpart. These dungeons of silent exploitation and passive resistance are forced to the fore by the literature which divorces socially propitious discourses and revitalizes the concept of morality with the chisels of inclusivity. The wordless speeches and silent cacophonies are channelized to the streams of acoustically receptive podiums through the literature. Literature sensitizes the ineluctably imperative yet innocuously disregarded rights of women bearing the cataclysmic brunt of atrocities perpetrated within the socially oblivious precincts of communities.

Pecuniarily, the presence of cerebral ratiocination is diametrically congruous and inalienably conditional to the material discretion and financial competency of the person concerned. This conditional duality is exploited and manoeuvred to besiege the females in society. Primordially, the power patterns have been emphatically arranged and vociferously advocated for their unconditional sustainability. To substantiate, the axiomatic prevalence of Binary Bifurcation- Delineation of spheres for men and women forebodes the consequences of the consolidated division of labour. The cementation of interests of women within the unwaged echelons of reproductive citadels- homes- while orchestration of yielding spheres for men siphons the former from cardinal rights which are conditional to the monetary preludes. The undercurrents of recognition and scribbling warrant scrutinization in this regard. The emanation of rampaging waves of prominence associated with masculine centrality bears ample testimony to the perpetuation of unilateral topics gravitating upon patriarchal prioritization. Literature peddles conflicting outliers through the words of Virginia Woolf in her word “A Room of One’s Own” as, “For women, fiction means that part of literature which is not poetry, and its value lies in its being an escape from the pressure of the facts of life.” (Chapter 1). The liabilities bequeathed upon factions of women not only serve as a source to exploit them but it contributes astronomically to encumbering their progression towards the unchartered territories of equality. Consequentially, the fallow soils of rights for women yearn for fecundity yet the only aggrandizement they witness is the exacerbation of their infertility. The pursuance of conflicting paths is bound to culminate in divergent destinations. The façade of society is chiselled by men and that inadvertently leaves infinitesimal space to accommodate their counterparts. Although the contemporary moral disquisition would allow the receding sand of rights from the lubricated palms of women to maintain its descending trajectory literature envisions a society where successive generations may be allowed to attain the egalitarian share of the property of rights and duties which remain confiscated within the parochial and plutocratic palms of patriarchy. If society is anteceded by the ordaining of equality, the moral question of demanding ubiquitous and androgynous results becomes inevitably substantiated. As Virginia Woolf terms that, “One cannot think well, love well, sleep well if one has not dined well.” (Chapter 3). The rudimentary tenets of emancipation germinate within the abjectly disregarded and divorced pastures of vernacular origin. So, literature leaps to defenestrates the derailing constituents of communities and deciphers for citizens of the camouflaged hypocrisy of society as testified by the aforementioned substantiations. To encapsulate, literature has leapt to locate the concerning dilemmas ubiquitously engulfing the social constituencies of the terrestrial human abodes thus contributing episodically to the enlightenment of the world towards the destination of the desired equalities.

The writer is a student.