The burden of the female body: an Islamic feminist reading of Qaisra Shahraz’s Typhoon

Abstract

A sequel to The Holy Woman(2001), Typhoon(2003) is Qaisra Shahraz’s second novel. This paper analyses how Shahraz continues problematizing female sexuality and the politics attached to it, especially in rural Pakistan. It dilates upon the discourse that surrounds the female body and sexuality in Pakistan society within and outside the framework of marriage. What is at stake is that women’s own sexuality becomes a burden for them. On the contrary, men take pride in their masculinity which gives authenticity to their voice. The cultural colonization of women’s lives (as it appears in Shahraz’s novel) is addressed under the theoretical rationale of Islamic feminism. This is done with the aim to locate the space granted to women in Islam, especiallywhen it comes to the female body and its sexuality.