International Journal of Gender and Women’s Studies
June 2019, Vol. 7, No. 1, pp. 46-52
ISSN: 2333-6021 (Print), 2333-603X (Online)
Copyright © The Author(s). All Rights Reserved.
Published by American Research Institute for Policy Development
DOI: 10.15640/ijgws. v7n1p6
URL: https://doi.org/10.15640/ijgws.v7n1p6
Women in the Male Chauvinistic Society: A Sociological Study of District Faisalabad,
Punjab (Pakistan)
*
Shabbir Ahmad
1
, Wu Huifang
1
, Saira Akhtar
2
, Shakeel Imran
3
, Haroon Yousaf
2
Abstract
There is a great hue and cry about the status of women in the male chauvinistic societies particularly in the
Muslim societies around the globe. In most of the cases, the literature history presented women as the victim
of social injustice, imprisoned in the chains of culture and religion, experiencing political transgression, and
social deprivation. The present study investigated the position of women in the male chauvinistic society of
district Faisalabad. The investigation was executed in the most vulnerable tehsil (Samundri) of the mentioned
district. Furthermore, four union councils were selected in the said tehsil, and fifty respondents were picked
up and thoroughly interviewed from each gender group that summed up into two hundred respondents in
total. The findings of this research study indicated that 62.0% females and 55.0 % males were agreed that the
condition of women was good in the society. Moreover, 61.0% females and 53.0% males were of the view
that women should participate in the economic spheres of the household activities. It was revealed by 48.0%
females and 44.0 % males that women could play their role in the development of the country. Lastly, 46.0%
female and 54.0% male respondents interpreted that male chauvinism has decreased in the society that is
permitting ladies to enjoy considerably equal rights in comparison to men. This study concluded that male
chauvinism is decreasing very rapidly and would become a past story soon.
Keywords: male chauvinism, society, gender, discrimination and social injustice, Faisalabad, Punjab, Pakistan
1. Introduction:
Patriarchy is a system in which men command on a significant position in important spheres of life as
compared to women. It is not only practiced in the Islamic countries but also in all other important religions and
cultures of the world (Carol & Christ, 2013). Due to the propaganda of mass media and feminist movements, it has
been assumed that males are responsible for all the social injustices that women are experiencing in many parts of the
world. Where, the undue domination of males over the female folk in the social, educational, political and religious
spheres is characterized as male chauvinism and the societies which practice this trend are regarded as male
chauvinistic societies (Peter, 2006). The condition of women is getting better as awareness is increasing through the
all-pervasive channels of mass media particularly in the developed as well as in the developing and under-developed
countries around the globe. At the global level, if we discuss the condition of women, particularly, in the United States
of America, it is improving with the rise of science and technology. In the US, women have made dramatic economic
progress, especially since the 1960s. Because of several indicators, women have experienced important gains in nearly
two decades that the Institute for Women’s Policy Research (IWPR) has reported. For example, women are more
likely than men to be employed in managerial or professional jobs and to have health insurance coverage (Heidiet. al,
2006). In the early nineteenth and twentieth centuries, considerable progress was made by women in the economically
progressive areas dominated by Western culture including North America, Europe, and Australia due to the rise of
science and technology. Women, who are living in the developed parts of the world are enjoying equal rights as
compared to their male counterparts (Rajan, 2015).
1
College of Humanities and Development Studies, China Agricultural University,Haidian District, Beijing, China
2
Department of Rural Sociology, University of Agriculture, Faisalabad, Punjab, Pakistan
3
University of Agriculture, Faisalabad, Sub Campus Burewala, Punjab, Pakistan *shabbir.ahmad@uaf.edu.pk