The Tradition of Patriarchy in Short Story THE YOUNG WIFE through Radical Feminist Perspective

Abstract

The research at hand employs a Radical feminist perspective and examines the text of the short story from an aspect of feminist perspective. Despite existing studies that highlighted the suppression of women in society, there appears to be a lack of inquiry into the tradition through which the suppression is initiated in society. Thus, this research aims to unveil the tradition as a tool used by men to suppress women into the defined social roles. The research examines the text of the short story The Young Wife by Zeb-un-Nissa Hamidullah, as this short story is taken from her collection, The Young Wife and Other Stories. Moreover, the study throws light on the tradition of patriarchal culture, deprivation of freedom of expression, and restricted social roles of women as discussed in the short story. The employed perspective of radical feminism is taken from Mary Daly’s work, Gyn/Ecology, which works as a research model. This qualitative research is meant to highlight gender biased practices, garbed in the guise of culture, which run through generations and are ironically propagated by the women themselves. The sources used in conducting this research are primary as well as secondary sources. The findings revealed that women are silenced in a male-dominated society as the defined social roles restrict women in the tradition of patriarchy.