RECLAIMING FEMINIST

There was a time when the presence and role of women were not mentioned in history. The part played by women in nurturing civilization and promoting language and literature was barely recognized. The patriarchal system not only ignored women but also considered them as nonexistent, essentially manifesting that women are devoid of any intellectual capabilities and wisdom. It was in the 1960s that women writers started to challenge such patriarchal practices by highlighting feminist consciousness in their literary writings.

Feminism’s rise in literature finds its profound connection with women’s social and political awareness. The global women’s rights movement played a key role in shaping it, and gradually it made its way into literature as well. Feminist consciousness refers to the awareness and understanding of women’s issues, their despotic oppression, and their courageous struggle for equality in a male-dominated society. In Urdu literature, feminist thoughts began in the early 20th century when women raised their concerns through writings.

Early magazines for women played an important role in developing this consciousness. Through writings in “Tehzeeb-i-Niswan,” “Khawateen,” and “Ismat,” women started to establish their own unique identities. These publications provided women a platform to express their thoughts freely and challenge societal norms that restricted their potential and confined their thoughts. Through these magazines, women writers not only documented their experiences but also presented alternative narratives that contradicted patriarchal assumptions.

In his article, “How Can Society Be Reformed?” Maulana Hali argued that women’s education is essential for eradicating repressive customs from our culture. His contemporary, Zahida Khatoon Sharwaniya, wrote the masnavi [narrative poem] “Aaina-i-Haram” in the style of Iqbal’s Shikwa [The Complaint] and published it in 1915 through the Dar-ul-Ishaat Punjab of Maulvi Mumtaz Ali. In this sixty-couplet masnavi, the men of the subcontinent are lamented for keeping women ignorant and inflicting great injustice and atrocities upon them and their offspring.

Zay Khay Sheen (Zahida Khatoon Sharwaniya) emerges as the first important figure within this tradition of feminist writing in Urdu literature. She was born in Behkampur, Aligarh, in 1894 and died in 1922. She was also the first female poet who could not be ignored due to her own unique thought and style of expression. At first, she tried to conceal her identity and kept changing her poetic name. Her famous mussaddas [six-line stanza], “Aaina-i-Haram,” was published along with her ten poems voicing women’s concerns. Her second collection, “Firdous-i-Takhaiul,” was published after her death in 1940 and proved her literary prowess. Her poetic voice posed a challenge to the patriarchal repression and narrated the experiences of women in a society that oppresses women. Her work stands as a testament to the fact that women’s intellectual capabilities are not inferior in any aspect, but rather have been systematically undervalued by men in society.

By the mid-1930s, the Progressive Movement brought a new era of women’s writings. Writers who were influenced by this movement, and later by modernism, remained in solidarity against misogynistic customs of society, included notable figures like Rashid Jahan, Ismat Chughtai, Qurratulain Hyder, Hajra Masroor, Khadija Mastoor, Ada Jafarey, Mumtaz Shireen, and Khalida Hussain. They leveraged their literary capabilities to expose and critique patriarchal structures that oppress women.

The feminist movement all over the world gained momentum in 1975, after the first UN conference on women held in Mexico. In our part of the world, the term ‘feminist’ gained acknowledgment in the same year. Many important women of Pakistan adopted a unique and singular approach to express themselves in the late 20th century. Among them were Kishwar Naheed, Fahmida Riaz, and Zahida Hina, who developed a connection between Urdu literature and the global feminist movement. This period marked a turning point in feminist consciousness in Urdu literature, as many women writers began to explicitly align their work with feminist principles and ideologies.

It is encouraging that a large number of women from the new generation are establishing their position in the fields of writing and education, and they are aware that as human beings, they are neither inferior nor superior. Their male contemporaries have largely moved beyond a negative attitude and are considering them as their equals. This was a long and difficult journey made possible by these important female writers whose works contributed significantly to this journey. However, women writers continue to assert their presence in literary spaces challenging patriarchal narratives due to the deeply entrenched discrimination and urban-rural awareness gaps in our society.