Daily Times

Hina Shamsi is a Pakistani author. She has studied Business Administration from Southeastern University. She has been a passionate writer of social issues. She says in an interview, “I love to write about social issues, mostly women centric.” The Quintessential Fat Girl is her debut novel, published in 2019 by Auraq Publishers, Pakistan. The novel is chic lit genre.

The story revolves around a female protagonist Zoya, who is turning 40 in the course of the story. She comes off an upper-middle class family living in Karachi, Pakistan. The novel is set in Karachi city in the contemporary time period. Zoya-called as Zoie by family and friends, is a freelance writer who has been writing on social issues, and a homemaker. She is married a decade ago with Asher and has two boys Muhammad and Hamza. She has two sisters, Amber, lives in Canada with her family and Anaya in Karachi.

Amber’s son Jibran’s marriage is going to take place in Pakistan in recent future. For that event Zoie is struggling with her weight. She is extremely conscious of her figure, age, and colour. The story focuses on her struggle in weight lose journey which encompasses body shaming on the part of society. Society’s derogatory commentary, insulting attitude, weird taboos, and pseudo standards of beauty, are exposed artistically using humour, irony and satire.

With great satirical and thought-provoking questions, the novel brilliantly exposes Pakistani society’s take on body. On the broader category the novel’s main theme is body shaming. Every institute of society encourages body shaming including school systems, family systems, public gatherings, media, and overall society system, like a cosmic force. Zoie has been body shamed after she is a mother of two kids she could not maintain with her earlier figure. Zoie’s cousin Saba who has been all her life called as ‘chubbi’ resulting self-hate, due to which she loses her confidence. This fake image of beauty is not only concerned of women’s company but it has its roots in school systems as well. Aieza, a little girl has been experiencing disparity due to her dark colour complexion. For the performance on ‘Snow White Show’ she has been chosen to perform a character of bitch while Manahil, who is white in complexion, is assigned the character of Snow White. Aieza feels depressed due to this constant discrimination in the hands of educational institutions. This was what experienced by the protagonist as well. In her childhood she was always out of the extracurricular activities. “If you had a few extra pounds, along with the dusky and pigmented skin, then you are an outcast for all extracurricular activities”. When Zoie askes Aieza’s mother to talk to school authorities, she responded, “If I speak to the school, they will not give her any part next year. You know how the system works”. Shamsi has taken the serious issues in the novel for her audience to reconsider like the standards regarding depression. In the society only women are associated with depression and if a man suffers, it is considered a taboo. “If a person has depression, he or she will be stigmatized even after being treated; hence it’s always kept a secret”. Zoie’s university fellow Saim suffers extreme depression, resulting his death. The society has standard of manhood; man are ashamed to get open help and discuss openly. Hence Shamsi urges society to grow and acknowledge depression as an illness just like any other illness.

The novel also provides an intellectual commentary on the child labor. Child labor is one of the problems in the society. Zoie and her friend Dina noticed a little girl of around eleven years holding a child at a corner at a café, a scene Zoie has seen many a times. Shamsi provides thought-provoking commentary upon the issue. “Girls are fighters from the day they are born. They have to fight to be accepted throughout their life. It’s really hard being a girl, especially in this part of the world.”

Shamsi has shown great concern regarding the women empowerment in the novel. Commenting satirically on the stereotypes of society regarding marriage, motherhood, perfect body, etc. “Women marry all kinds of men; dark, fat, old, even bald…on the contrary, women go through worst body scrutiny and shaming in our culture.” Besides family’s pressure upon girls about marriage pushes them back to be stereotypes. “Being married and living in a secure home with children and husband is the perfect picture drawn for our gender”. Shamsi observes that family is hurting deep down making girls feel unworthy not realizing that there are other fulfilling things in life for her to do. “Wouldn’t it be nice if we encourage our young girls to find solace in their career or passion.”

Besides the novel also touches upon the issue of great consideration; that of people’s interference through social media or in person.

Society’s interference into one personal domain has become a trend now. This, one the whole leads one to chaotic mental conditions. Marium is upset all the time because of repeated questions regarding her pregnancy in public gatherings. Celebrities are body-shamed, sometimes slut-shamed through social media. Zoie penetrates into questions like, “What kind of intolerable society do we live in? Why can’t we disagree amicably? Why do we have to character assassin a woman to prove our point.”

On the whole the novel is an explicit critique of a number of vices in Pakistani society, which is obsessed with various issues, which are now unfortunately been categorized as default setting, including pseudo standards of beauty, pseudo standards of manhood, indifferent attitude towards depression, child labor, body shaming and misuse of different platforms like social media, etc. Shamsi has provided an intellectual commentary on almost major social and personal issues with thought-provoking questions.

Fozia Chandio is a lecturer at the Institute of English Language & Literature, University of Sindh, Pakistan. She can be reached at fozia.chandio@usindh.edu.pk. Dr Zia Ahmed is a professor of English at Government Emerson College, Multan. He can be reached at zeadogar@hotmail.com and Tweets at @Profzee