Questioning Gender-Slavery Oppression in Jokha Alharthi’s Celestial Bodies

Abstract

Gender inequality has always been a crucial part of the grand narrative of culture in Arabia. Women in Arabian society are subjected to gender bias. Analyzing the novel Celestial Bodies by Jokha Alharthi, the winner of the International Booker Prize in 2019, the paper will vividly visualize various atrocities that are exercised by men against women in the name of culture and traditions. It will bring to focus how culture is twisted and manipulated by men to exercise their control over women. It will further expose how hiding under the cloak of worn-out misogynist cultural dictates, men oppress women. The paper will explore the different challenges that are faced by slave women in Oman through the characters like Zarifa, Hafiza, Ankabuta, and Masouda. Alharthi portrays various ugly moments in the lives of Omani women wherein they are commodified and sexually abused. It will expose how women are ill-treated as slaves and used by men for their sexual gratification to such an extent that the young slave women remain confused about the paternal identity of their children. The paper will employ slave narratives and gender theoretical postulations to contest slavery as an inhumane practice against men in general and women in particular.