What is it about?
It explores how women in Pakistan's Gilgit-Baltistan use digital platforms for feminist resistance, reclaiming "willful femininity" as defined by Sara Ahmed to challenge patriarchal norms and express new femininities in a conservative region, highlighting their deliberate digital activism against traditional constraints.
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Why is it important?
This article is important because it reveals how women in the patriarchal region of Gilgit-Baltistan use digital platforms for "willful femininity"—a form of resistance where they deliberately challenge restrictive norms by crafting alternative identities online, turning digital spaces into sites of activism and self-expression, despite facing societal pressures and potential backlash. It's significant for understanding how technology enables resistance in conservative contexts, offering insights into gender, digital culture, and political identity in marginalized areas.
Perspectives
This is among the first studies to examine how digital spaces are being used to resist long-standing patriarchal mindsets in the remote region of Gilgit-Baltistan. It offers critical insights into the opportunities and challenges that these digital spaces present for women in the region. The study also contributes to the broader debate on gender and women’s spaces within emerging digital environments.
Muhammad Ali Musofer
University of Queensland
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: From Silence to Resistance: An Autoethnographic Account of Willful Femininity and Digital Activism in Gilgit-Baltistan, Journal of Femininities, October 2025, De Gruyter,
DOI: 10.1163/29501229-bja10030.
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