Author: Minahill Khan
Abstract
This paper addresses the representation of various aspects of the life of khwaja sira[1] in Pakistani cinema. Gender discrimination is a global issue, and the khwaja sira community is one of the most discriminated and marginalized in Pakistan. They are abandoned by their families, ostracized by society, forced into sex work, begging, or singing and dancing to earn a living (Imtiaz, 2017). This paper analyses two films, Bol/Speak (dir. Shoaib Masoor, 2011), and Immaculate Conception (dir. Jamil Dehlavi, 1992), to understand how such depictions of khwaja sira both subvert as well as promote normative ideas of this gender category. The analysis is divided into three parts: narrative structure analysis, contextual analysis and mise-en-scène. This study engages with literature on cinema regarding gender issues and representation, and study contextualizes its analysis and findings within the context of the cinematic depiction of khwaja sira.
Keywords
Gender in Cinema, Transgender Cinema, Khwaja Sira, Gender in Pakistan, Gender-based Violence
