Navigating Gender and Sexuality in Sabba Khan’s ‘The Roles We Play’ and Ayesha Tariq’s ‘Sarah: The Suppressed Anger of the Pakistani Obedient Daughter’

Abstract

This paper shall explore the intersections of gender, sexuality, and identity through a comparative analysis of Sabba Khan’s The Roles We Play and Ayesha Tariq’s Sarah: The Suppressed Anger of the Pakistani Obedient Daughter. Both graphic narratives examine the lived experiences of Pakistani women but in distinct sociocultural landscapes. Khan’s work delves into the complexities of race, gender, and diaspora as experienced by a British Pakistani woman in the UK. Tariq’s narrative critiques the suffocating patriarchy and generational expectations imposed on women within Pakistan. Using Chandra Talpade Mohanty’s postcolonial feminist framework, this paper shall investigate how both narratives interrogate systemic gendered oppression. Mohanty’s methodology, which emphasises intersections of race, class, and gender across transnational and local contexts, provides a lens to examine Khan’s critique of racialised patriarchy in the diaspora and Tariq’s indictment of entrenched patriarchal norms in Pakistan. The paper shall examine how cultural and geographic contexts shape women’s struggles and agency by juxtaposing these narratives. Khan’s narrative explores alienation, hybridity, and belonging in a white-majority society, while Tariq portrays the psychological toll of conformity to patriarchal norms. Despite these differences, both works converge in depicting gender as a site of resistance and resilience, showcasing how visual storytelling captures complex female experiences.