Patriarchy, Power and Prostitution in Lahore’s Red-Light District: A Feminist Study of Fouzia Saeed’s Taboo

Patriarchy, Power and Prostitution in Lahore’s Red-Light District

Abstract

In her 2002 book Taboo: The Hidden Culture of Red Light Area, Fouzia Saeed

explains how patriarchal norms in Pakistani society rigidly categorise women into

‘pure’ and ‘polluted’, shaping perceptions of prostitution and human trafficking.

This article argues that patriarchy has its roots in materiality, and plays an

indispensable role in pushing many women into the dreadful practice of

prostitution or trafficking for sexual slavery through the structural and

institutional flaws threaded within Pakistani culture. Women in Pakistan yet also

have internalised the deep-rooted patriarchal ideologies and sexism that lead to a

holistic understanding of what this patriarchal culture entails. Focusing on Heera

Mandi – Lahore’s traditional red light district as depicted in Saeed’s ethnographic

book, this textual cum descriptive analysis contributes to unveil the dilemmas of

women engaged in prostitution who are constantly under threat from patriarchy

and other institutions. While unfolding men formulated cultural norms through

radical feminist analysis of Taboo, this article concludes that the patriarchal

metamorphosing of women into valueless commodities perpetuates the practice of

prostitution and trafficking in Heera Mandi. The study also suggests that, to

eliminate female inferiority, feminist activism in Pakistan requires measures to

restructure patriarchy together with consciousness-raising and political education

of women in all respect.