Dua Fatima MFA

"My gender wasn't a choice for me, but was inherently mine! 

Women’s issues cut across borders through a shared thread of inequality, as this commonality prevails all around the world, influencing the lived realities across cultures. In a parallel vein, womanhood in Pakistan remains largely uncelebrated. Delving into the profound depths of my own society’s reality, I find myself compelled to unravel what actually shapes the very core of Pakistani womanhood. 

This research examines how gendering manifests through performativity within spatial contexts and through interactions with objects. In doing so, it shows how an order so ingrained in everyday practices structures women’s daily experiences into cultural continuity. 

Using a mixed-methods approach, the study draws on the philosophical theory of Simone de Beauvoir’s concept of “becoming a woman” and Judith Butler’s theory of performativity with ethnographic analysis, to observe the processes of gender construction. 

The analysis uncovers the core determinants of how material culture shapes perceptions, behaviors, and values across generations, laying bare why women’s grounding in Pakistani society is the way it is. My practice-led exploration embodies these lived insights through contemporary jewellery, translating adornment into a catalyst for social inquiry."

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