According to some families in Pakistan, women giving birth are considered to be impure and unclean. They are sent off to an isolated building called Bashleni to carry on with labor.
Only those women who are menstruating can enter the building as they themselves are considered impure and messy. Pakistan is a patriarchal society where men are the primary authority figures and women are subordinate. https://youtu.be/7Kf35XuF70o
Gender is one of the organizing principles of Pakistani society. Patriarchal values embedded in local traditions, religion, and culture predetermine the social value of gender. Islam heavily influences gender roles in particular.
An artificial divide between production and reproduction, made by the ideology of sexual division of labor, has placed women in reproductive roles as mothers and wives in the private arena of home and men in a productive role as breadwinners in the public arena. Pakistani women lack social value and status because of the negation of their roles as producers and providers in all social roles.
The preference for sons due to their productive role often dictates the allocation of household resources in their favor. Traditionally, male members of the family are given better education and are equipped with skills to compete for resources in the public arena, while female members are imparted domestic skills to be good mothers and wives.
Lack of skills, limited opportunities in the job market, and social, religious, and cultural restrictions limit women’s chances to compete for resources in the public arena.
This situation has led to the social and economic dependency of women that becomes the basis for male power over women in all social relationships. However, the spread of patriarchy is not even. The nature and degree of women’s subordination vary across classes, regions, and the rural/urban divide.
Patriarchal structures are relatively stronger in the rural and tribal settings where local customs establish male authority and power over women’s lives.
On the other hand, women belonging to the upper and middle classes have increasingly greater access to education and employment opportunities and can assume greater control over their lives.
