Cultural constraints and gender empowerment: Self-representation among young Balochi women on social media

This research investigates how young Balochi women, aged 18 to 24, utilize social media platforms to express their gender identities, challenge traditional gender expectations, and experience empowerment within their cultural context. Employing a mixed-methods approach, involving a quantitative survey on 110 university students and in-depth interviews with 15 participants, and utilizing Goffman’s dramaturgical framework, the findings reveal Facebook as the favored social media platform. The results suggest that participants conscientiously project femininity online to align with cultural norms, yet they strategically manage their online personas, particularly in the presence of family members to avoid judgement and social backlash. However, utilizing the technical affordances of social media, participants gain control over their online presence and create a desired persona by striking a balance between their backstage and frontstage performance. While social media serves as a source of empowerment for these women, it does not completely liberate them from the offline patriarchy and traditional gender expectations.