Gender Dynamics in Mueenuddin’s In Other Rooms, Other Wonders: A Textual Analysis

Abstract

This paper examines gender dynamics in Mueenuddin’s short story collection In Other Rooms, Other Wonders (2009). Using textual analysis as the method, it analyses two stories, “Provide, Provide” and “In Other Rooms, Other Wonders” to find instances where the boundaries of patriarchal gender constructs are pushed, and positive alternatives presented. The research employs Cornell's concepts of multiple masculinities, hegemonic masculinity and emphasised femininity as the main theoretical framework. Other feminist theories such as patriarchy, gender roles and intersectionality have also been utilised. The study reveals that Mueenuddin tends to destabilise the hegemonic status of masculinity at the hands of self-confident, aggressive, and ambitious women seeking to change their circumstantial reality. However, deeply entrenched patriarchal structures reclaim the space and relegate such women back to their socially defined position(s).