Hammering Out Power Within Patriarchy: The Transformation of Women’s Role Across Generations in Pakistan

Abstract

Conceived in the past as a system whereby men rule over women, today’s feminist scholarship points out that women are also instrumental in maintaining such patriarchal norms. This paper examines how middle-aged women of Pakistan transition from being submissive daughters-in-law to becoming dominant mothers-in-law. This research examines the sociocultural mechanisms that perpetuate patriarchal values in line with familial structures across generations. A qualitative research design is used and in-depth semi-structured interviews are conducted with 20 middle-aged women, who are living in Rawalpindi Pakistan. A phenomenological approach is used to understand what participants’ lived experiences were. Thematic analysis was used for the data which were analyzed with reliability commonly through inter-coder validation and member checking. The data reveal that women are socially and re-socialized at first as young brides whose experiences with the system are oppressive, and then, later, as mothers-in-law, enforcing the system to which they themselves were subjected. These experiences are largely influenced by socio-economic status, with lower-income women primarily relying on direct control mechanisms while upper-income women use more subtle forms of influence like curbing finances and emotionally manipulating. Urban women adjust their strategies for influence in an evolving society where rural women are obligated to traditional expectations. Even educated women can rationalize their enforcement of patriarchy, even though it does affect women’s perspectives, as a way to obtain power in the households. It also highlights a growing trend of some women, especially those who are more economically independent or have fewer children, sliding away from patriarchal enforcement, and advocating for a more equal arrangement in the household. This research highlights the paradoxical role of women both as victims of patriarchal norms and as enforcers of those norms. Targeted interventions are needed because neo-patriarchy endures, wherein contemporary women are operating within traditional gender hierarchies. Economic empowerment, intergenerational dialogue, legal awareness, and community-based initiatives can help to dismantle these addictions to long-held cycles. Implications of the study’s insights for feminist theory, gender policy reforms, and social programs for improving the status of women in family structures are important.