Beyond Borders: Patriarchal Oppression and Female Resistance in the Short Stories of Kate Chopin and Qaisra Shahraz

Abstract

This study presents a comparative feminist analysis of Kate Chopin's A Pair of Silk Stockings and Qaisra Shahraz's A Pair of Jeans through the theoretical framework of Simone de Beauvoir. It examines how both texts portray different forms of women's oppression and resistance within patriarchal societies despite their distinct historical and cultural settings. The study adopts a qualitative textual analysis to explore the themes of economic, emotional, social, patriarchal, socio-moral, and cultural oppression, drawing on Beauvoir's concepts of the Other, immanence, transcendence, and gender socialization. The analysis reveals that both protagonists are initially confined by patriarchal structures that deny them subjectivity and reduce them to traditional gender roles. However, each character resists these constraints in different ways. Mrs. Sommers' seemingly ordinary acts of self-indulgence become a silent assertion of individuality, while Mariam openly challenges the cultural and moral judgments imposed upon her. Although their forms of resistance differ in intensity and expression, both narratives emphasize women's struggle to reclaim autonomy and redefine their identities beyond socially constructed expectations. The study concludes that Beauvoir's feminist philosophy provides an effective framework for understanding how literature exposes gender oppression while presenting resistance as a movement from immanence toward transcendence. By comparing these two texts, the study highlights the continuity of patriarchal control across different cultures and demonstrates that the pursuit of female subjectivity and freedom remains a universal concern in feminist literature.