Culture and subjectivity – areas of continuity and rupture: the history of Mukhtar Mai

Abstract

In 2002 a Pakistani woman named Mukhtar Mai was sentenced to collective rape for a crime committed by her brother. Unfortunately, situations like these cannot be considered rare in Pakistan, where rape as a way of resolving conflicts between families is a common practice. Consequently, the most remarkable aspect of this story may have been the reaction of this woman, who instead of resigning herself to silence or committing suicide, which is common in these cases, initiated a campaign of protest and struggle in favor of women’s rights in her country. Through this story we can perceive how tradition and culture permeate the actions and representations of a people in which the femail body still represents an object that can be used for the honor or shame of the clan. But this system of values also makes possible the rise of indivuduals who are able to break with a pattern of subordination.