Women Portrayal in Contemporary Pakistani Films

Abstract

Media became the strong force in shaping and making global village. Cinema is the source of making cultural and traditional norms specifically gender based. Pakistani Cinema faces different phases while it’s developing stages. In the current era, it has been revived and focus on important aspects of society. This study aims to find the women portrayal in contemporary Pakistan films that how their depiction has been changed from docile being towards empowered roles who challenged the patriarchal ideologies and struggled for their rights. It works to highlight the women portrayal in contemporary Pakistani films that either it reinforce the gender stereotypes or present them in strong characters. The women portrayal before revived cinema did not address the women’s issues by representing them docile and dependent creature. The inattentive address on women’s concerns was the main reason of Pakistani cinema down fall. After the revival, Pakistani films emphasize on women’s portrayal by presenting their problems and positive image. It is a qualitative study and critical discourse analysis applied to see the focus of women’s portrayal in-depth in the contemporary films based on themes. The results shows that contemporary Pakistani films promoting women’s strong place in the society and making contributions towards their positive portrayal by discussing their issues and presenting struggles of them in the male dominated culture. The women in this film era achieve their goals towards empowerment and cross the hurdles of societal pressures. This study focuses on the feminist discourse in contemporary cinema regarding women portrayal that would develop more balanced gender portrayal in films to educate and contemplate the viewers. The research opens new avenues for cinema research and would benefit women in society by reducing patriarchal practices. It will also facilitate in policy making of cinema goers to come up with such productions that provide balanced gender portrayals and use this medium effectively to address the women's issues existing in Pakistan.