Journal of Education and Practice www.iiste.org ISSN 2222-1735 (Paper) ISSN 2222-288X (Online) Vol.9, No.6, 2018 107 Status of Rural Women: Patriarchy and Inevitability of Subjugation; A Study of Rural Area in Multan, Pakistan Safdar Abbas 1* , Muhammad Hashim 2 , Ali Abdullah Mohammed Alzuhairi 3 . 1. School of Education, Southwest University, Chongqing 400715, China. 2. Department of Sociology, University of Sargodha, Pakistan. 3. School of International Studies, Southwest University, Chongqing 400715, China. *Correspondence and request for materials should be addressed to Safdar Abbas (safdarbloch1986@yahoo.com). ABSTRACT Women are oppressed in every walk of life but oppression may differ from place to place. Urban Rural divide has shown the different social structures for women. The present research was conducted with these objectives: to identify the status of women in rural settings, to analysis perception of society about social status of women, to explore the impact of Patriarchy on women in context of rural settings of Multan, Pakistan. Mix research methods were used to carry this research. Interviews were conducted from 100 married women, living in rural areas of Multan. A Focus Group Discussion was also conducted to address the research questions. The findings of the study suggest that women’s health, education and economic status is poor, whereas women’s status stems from patriarchy, the power and controlling structure where men dominates over women. This is patriarchy which maintains the women’s submissive role and it generates a structure which subjugates women of rural area. The study suggests that by expanding the canvas of formal economy, it may channelize the women’s low paid or unpaid work. This can help enhance women’s economic and social status in rural areas. Key Words: Patriarchy, Status of Women, Rural Women, Gender Inequality 1.Introduction There is a long history of patriarchy, an institution to get control and power in society. This politico-social system emphasizes that male dominance is natural and female is to obey them. It maintains men have every right to oppress women and they hold privilege status. It works through internalizing its core values by socialization process. In this sense, women and men become the strength of patriarchy (Hook, 2013). The term “patriarchy” hold central position in feminist literature. Its use meant to highlight existing inequalities between women and men at every level including household to societal level. There are new forms of patriarchy where a woman wants to preserve their supremacy over another woman within the household. This is known as neo patriarchy. There are different power hierarchies within family to oppress women, in this view, by women. The result of this may be domestic violence due to clash of interest by different forces working to hold power. This, once again, increases women’s dependency on family (Rehman, 2009; Sultana, 2012). According to Global gender Gap Report 2012, presented in World Economic forum, Pakistan stands 134 th position out of 135 countries. It can be said this country is worst place for women to stay. Whereas, Pakistan ranks 123th in Gender Inequality Index, out of 180 countries. Women’s low participation in economic, social and political sphere has many causes. Women lack job opportunities and to attain the rights. This situation leads women to be regarded as deprived class, this maintains male dominance in society (Kazmi, 2005: 94). In the educational sector, poor infrastructure, social relations and perception about women in education is not in their favor. Moreover, poverty plays an important role to restrict women from education (Sheikh, 2009). There is further divide in a society where women are deal differently, known as urban rural divide. Public and private spheres create the other form of oppression. All these divides have certain impact on the status