Patriarchy and Women’s Resistance In Banu Mustaq’s “Stone Slabs for Shaista Mahal”: A Feminist Analysis

Abstract

This study aims to analyze how patriarchy operates and how women’s resistance emerges in Banu Mushtaq’s short story Stone Slabs for Shaista Mahal. Using Hooks’ theory of patriarchy as the main analytical framework, this study applies a qualitative descriptive method combined with feminist literary criticism to interpret textual evidence from the short story. This study focuses on how patriarchal power structures shape women’s experiences through male authority, silence, reproductive pressure, and social expectations within family and cultural contexts. The findings reveal that patriarchy operates through male authority, reproductive pressure, and women’s lack of agency, and the emergence of awareness through observation of suffering experienced by characters such as Shaista and Zeenat. However, the study also shows the emergence of feminist awareness through the observation of suffering experienced by women across generations, particularly through Asifa’s growing consciousness of injustice. Resistance in this context does not appear in the form of direct rebellion or confrontation, but through silence, awareness, memory, and intergenerational consciousness. These subtle forms of resistance highlight how women negotiate power within restrictive patriarchal systems. This study contributes to feminist literary criticism by demonstrating that resistance can be formed not only through visible acts of defiance, but also through lived experiences, observation, and collective memory, especially among minor characters.