Pakistani Women’s Travelogues: Feminism and the Economic Dimensions of Womanhood

Abstract

In Urdu literature, the travelogue is more than a record of places; it mirrors the writer’s thought and social awareness. Pakistani women travel writers highlight not only their journeys but also issues of education, health, work, and social inequality. These writings reveal feminist consciousness and offer deep insight into women’s socio-economic position. Feminism, as an ideology, demands women’s equal role in society, politics, education, and economy. The article which is from my PhD dissertation was aimed to explore how feminist perspectives and economic dimensions emerge in Pakistani women’s travelogues and to what extent the economic role of women is emphasized. Achieving these objectives, these travelogues were studied analytically from a feminist perspective, utilizing content analysis. The objective benchmarks for analyzing these travelogues were derived from various feminist theories. In this regard, Pakistani women’s travelogues were used as primary sources. The findings of this research reveal that women are not confined to a single region or tradition, but are active and indispensable members of the global economy. Pakistani women’s travelogues stand as evidence that the economic role of women worldwide forms an essential link, without which the very concept of social and cultural progress remains incomplete.