Decolonising Muslim Men: How the Pakistani Migrant Husband's experience challenges traditional understandings of gender power dynamics

Suriyah Bi, SOAS

Abstract: Gender power dynamics in South Asian and/or the Pakistani community in Britain are understood to be patriarchal, where men maintain the breadwinner role, and are powerful and dominating in both public and private spheres. This narrative has lent itself to the portrayal of Pakistani Muslim men as powerful patriarchs, wife-beaters, perpetrators of honour crimes, as well as sexual groomers of white girls, gang members, and terrorists. The concept of multiple masculinites then, has seldom been extended and afforded to Pakistani Muslim men in Britain. Through the lens of marriage migration, this seminar will trace the expected and lived experiences of Pakistani Muslim migrant husbands, demonstrating how their dependence on wives and in-laws creates a weak position which can translate to domestic violence against them. The qualitative and quantitative data will then be employed to put forward the argument that a greater effort to 'decolonise Muslim men' needs to be made, in order to study gender dyamics without the bias of the structure of the academy.

The events are free and open to the public. Registration is not required.

Organiser: Centre for Migration and Diaspora Studies