Patriarchy, Power and Prostitution in Lahore’s Red Light District:A Feminist Study of Fouzia Saeed’s Taboo

In her 2002 book Taboo: The Hidden Culture of Red Light Area, Fouzia Saeedexplains how patriarchal norms in Pakistani society rigidly categorise women into‘pure’ and ‘polluted’, shaping perceptions of prostitution and human trafficking. This article argues that patriarchy has its roots in materiality, and plays anindispensable role in pushing many women into the dreadful practice of prostitution or trafficking for sexual slavery through the structural andinstitutional flaws threaded within Pakistani culture. Women in Pakistan yet alsohave internalised the deep-rooted patriarchal ideologies and sexism that lead to a holistic understanding of what this patriarchal culture entails. Focusing on HeeraMandi – Lahore’s traditional red light district as depicted in Saeed’s ethnographic book, this textual cum descriptive analysis contributes to unveil the dilemmas of women engaged in prostitution who are constantly under threat frompatriarchyand other institutions. While unfolding men formulated cultural norms throughradical feminist analysis of Taboo, this article concludes that the patriarchal metamorphosing of women into valueless commodities perpetuates the practice of prostitution and trafficking in Heera Mandi. The study also suggests that, toeliminate female inferiority, feminist activism in Pakistan requires measures torestructure patriarchy together with consciousness-raising and political educationof women in all respects.