An Exploration of the Patriarchal Behavior of Society with the Divorced Women, in “ Hurriya” by Tabassum MaqboolIntroduction: “ Hurriya” is a novel about a young woman who faces marvelous challenges and problems in a Middle East society that attempts to deprive her of fundamental human rights. At the beginning of the story Hurriya emissaries a sparrow that mistakenly seeks shelter in a predator’s nest and which serves as a metaphor for Hurriya, her ordeals, and efforts to survive in a hostile environment. “ Tabassum Maqbool” lives in Faisalabad and works as a lecturer in English at GCUF. She has the tendency to learn and contribute articles in the national and international journal. Her areas of interest are ecofeminism, literary theory and creative writing. Hurriya is her first novel and she is working on other projects. Pakistan is a patriarchal society.
Women are ascribed to a lower status than men in all aspects of social and political life. They are lagging behind in education and labor force participation. The female literacy rate is lower. They are less in and get dropped out early from the formal educational sector.
Their participation in the paid labor force is low. The economic worth of their unpaid work in household and family fields is not recognized yet. They are facing several victimizing socio-cultural evil practices (e. g. domestic violence, honor killings, forced marriages, exchange marriages, etc.). The law does not suffice to protect them from victimization.
Rather, several discriminatory laws (e. g. Hudood Ordinances and the law of evidence) were the tools to legitimize and institutionalize women’s lower status and victimization for a long time. In large part, the vulnerable condition of women is due to a socially accepted lower status of women and lack of autonomy and decision-making authority given to them.
They lack decision in both public and private spheres. The gender-sensitive social policy and lawmaking in the state political institutions (e. g. National Assembly and Senate) is essential for altering the socio-cultural configurations in order to improve women’s status in society and curb violence against them. The aim can be achieved only when women will have equal access and participation at national level legislatures and political institutions. The equal participation may help to bring their interests on floors to influence the social policy, legislation, and distribution of resources for their benefit. In eastern societies, getting divorced is no less than any disgrace or stain for a woman.
The divorced women suffer far greater discrimination as compared to the man. Divorce is a stigma and no one could be persuaded to take her as a wife because of her previous experience with marriage. According to traditional societal norms, people consider such a woman a creature bearing bad luck. Yet the way divorced women are treated in eastern societies forces such women to lead pathetic, lonely, joy-less lives, and remain isolated. People start talking behind their backs, sometimes even to the face of the victim: “ How heartless this divorced woman is; she who laughs!” Statement of the Problem A relationship is one factor compared to several that have an impact on an adolescent (is referring to an individual between fourteen and eighteen years of age.).
Adolescents are in a crucial time for cognitive, psychosocial and emotional transformation. These are all impacts that adolescents face and a parental divorce can make this process more difficult during these transformations. There have been several studies conducted that conclude the different impacts that divorce can have on adolescents. Some of these include lower academic achievement, psychological adjustment, and self-concept. Adolescents will be the primary focus since the prevalence of divorce is so significant and adolescents have enough changes to adjust to. This literature review is to help parents, teachers, counselors, and other professionals working in the field to recognize the impact in order to allow adolescents the support they may need or want.
Literature review Divorce is not an intended event in a family’s life. It is something that can affect each individual of the family differently and at different times. Today a couple’s chance of getting a divorce is around fifty percent. Since this is an event that is not intended to happen, many factors need to be considered when children are involved.
Literature shows that children from divorced families experience difficult adjustments such as social, academic, and behavioral compared to children of intact families, also concluded that children from non-intact families tend to have lower psychological well-being as compared to those from intact families. This study will be looking at the impact that a divorce can have on adolescent relationships. It will look at the impact on the parent to an adolescent relationship and the relationships that adolescents have themselves. The review of literature will provide an overview of what has already been concluded about adolescent relationships and what could be further looked at. This will also look at the research questions that were presented in this study which were the impact on the mother to adolescent relationships, the impact of the father to adolescent relationships and the impact on relationships of adolescents.
Theory Adolescents can be put in a situation during the divorce of their parents that can cause a triangulation between family members. One researcher found that when parents form alliances with a child/adolescent against the other parent, the parent to parent and parent to child relationships become unclear (Buchanan, Maccoby, & Dornbusch, 1991). This type of relationship puts the child/adolescent into parent negotiations, tension and active conflicts causing an impact on their relationship (Buchanan Maccoby, & Dornbusch, 1991). The interaction between parents can cause the adolescent to have mixed feelings about what and whom they should be “ siding” with. The theory of triangulation is considered a family systems theory (Buchanan, Maccoby, & Dornbusch, 1991). This theory will be the base for this study. This theory will aid in looking at the relationships that are formed after a parental divorce.
The relationship between the child and parent is one factor that may change or add stress to all involved. The parent-child relationships are a representation of how the child views relationships not only with friends but also with a romantic partner (Bartell, 2001). Many changes occur during and after a divorce that can impact this relationship. The negative effects that can happen to the parent-child relationship such as less time together and the degree of closeness and warmth can affect the attachment between the two (Mahl, 2001). The relationships between the mother and child and the father and child. It will take into account the effects described above. Poor quality relationships with parents after a divorce are related to less satisfaction in romantic relationships, more fear, and anxiety, less trust, and happiness in love (Bartell, 2004).
Significance