DECONSTRUCTING MASCULINITIES: ANALYZING TRADITIONAL NORMS AND CONTEMPORARY SHIFTS IN PAKISTAN

Abstract

This research involves critical examination of the changing constructions of masculinity in Pakistan by deconstructing established gender norms and examining the impacts of socio-cultural changes and contemporaneous practices of masculinity. This proposed study is situated within the frameworks of Social Learning Theory and Social Constructivism, which will examine how masculinity is framed, enacted, appropriated, and challenged across generations in Pakistan. From a phenomenological qualitative approach, the present study will utilize semi-structured interviews of participants from different age groups to explore how men interpret, negotiate and reconstruct masculine identity in a society undergoing change. Results of this study revealed that dominant male roles like being obedient, suppressing emotion, and being economically responsible have typically been reinforced within families, via religion, through forms of media, and so on. With the onset of things like globalization, urbanization, education, and movements for gender equality, these roles are increasingly under challenge. The study discusses both pushback and acceptance of changing gender norms, and explores the tensions of maintaining cultural and family continuity, while simultaneously moving towards a more progressive interpretation of gender fluidity. This research contributes to the field of gender studies in South Asia specifically, with targeted comparisons for the complexity of masculine identity within a transitioning Pakistani patriarchal context.