Distortion of Cultural Anthropology in Haji’s The Writing on My Forehead: A Feminist Analysis

The current research paper intends to explore the culturally built up stereotypes scrutinizing the role of women in Nafisa Haji’s The Writing on My Forehead (2009). It investigates the troubling state of Pakistani women as the victims of socio-cultural hegemony. Saira as a protagonist of the text reciprocates as an icon of protest against constructed cultural ideologies inclined towards gender dichotomous norms. Lila Abu Lughod in her essay Writing against Culture (2008) applies an operational technique upon culture distorting such falsely internalized cultural trends. She argues that culture appears as a major tool in the formation of self/other binary, serving as the foundation of male/female distinction thus carrying with it the baggage of hierarchy. Lila’s work not only out steps the horizons of cultural geography and monopoly but also interrogates further the roots of culture bringing into question, the reality of culture thus challenging the existing history of culture by writing against culture. Haji fabricates an intricate web representing the familial system rooted in cultural paradigms. By introducing the cultural calamities as Cultural Schizophrenia, the imbalance of women’s right in accordance to cultural constraints has been critically exposed.