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An Unrelenting Burden: Masculinity, Patriarchy, and Female Trauma in Mai Al-Nakib’s An Unlasting Home
Alrajhi, Lama
Alrajhi, Lama
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Abstract
This research examines how the manifestations of masculinity in three selected characters—Qais Qais Al-Talib, Hassan Suleiman, and Marwan Sayyid Riyad Al-Ameed— in Mai Al-Nakib’s multigenerational saga An Unlasting Home (2022) affect the female characters and upholds patriarchal systems in Arab society. It uses R.W. Connell’s hegemonic masculinity and Kupers’ toxic masculinity as a basis for explaining how each of the mentioned characters’ masculinities manifests through their violent behavior when failing to reach or attempting to maintain hegemonic norms. A connection is drawn between them in the way that they uphold patriarchy through the dehumanization, objectification, and violation of the women in their lives— Sheikha, Yeliz, and Yasmine– upon a perceived threat to their masculinity. Amer Alsaleh’s various forms of violence, Lenore E. Walker’s cycle of violence, Yashasvi Gupta’s theories of patriarchal trauma, and Smith et al.‘s study— which links hegemonic masculinity to sexual aggression— are also used within the theoretical framework of this research to describe the detrimental impact of their abuse. The analysis also takes notice of Connell's theory that women live as sexual objects to validate men, supported by Alsaleh’s emphasis that it is custom and tradition that offers men the right to women’s bodies and services, and applies it to Sheikha and Yasmine’s specific contexts. Shaped by the masculinities around them, the trajectory of the women’s lives is changed forever. This research also emphasizes that hegemonic masculinity and patriarchy negatively impact not only women but subordinate masculinities as well.