From Playmates to Pariahs: Exploring the Loss of “Silly” Khala

The feminist debate surrounding gender and sex has influenced many disciplines including literature. Similarly, Naima Rashid critically tackles the notion of ‘womanhood’ through the character of ‘Iffat’ in her short story titled Iffat Khala. Therefore, the major aim of this paper is to examine the ways in which the notion of woman is socially mediated and constructed and to find out how social constructs impact subjugated individuals. These questions are answered via close reading of selected text as this method allows for deeper analysis. Moreover, the analysis is theoretically informed by Judith Butler’s concept of Gender Performativity as the notion of ‘gender’ being performance is explored by Rashid in the text. As analysis reveals that Iffat, like every other woman around her, tries to perform socially expected acts to be ‘woman’; however, her inability to have children devoid her said identity. Moreover, the societal expectations cause Iffat to be ‘pariah’ in a circle where she used to be ‘silly’ Khala. The analysis concludes that the normalized societal expectations aided by self-implicated definition of woman including making “Barrenness” a stigma, have pushed Iffat into a place where she is not in “touch” with her “silly” and self-reflecting past. Therefore, she confines herself to her own universe, i.e. into isolation. The research contributes to ongoing debate surrounding gender and sex in literature. Moreover, it also adds to Butler’s theory as paper discusses a nuanced concept, i.e. ‘Barren’. Similarly, the research also adds to existing scholarship in Pakistani literature on issue of gender, social construct and infertility.