Urdu Women's Digests: Reading for Pleasure Behind 'Walls and Veils' - Softcover

The social and economic status of women is a major challenge currently faced in Pakistan, which is passing through intense political turmoil. On the one hand, Pakistan has a relatively liberal media policy that raises concerns about women's situation in society. On the other hand, there are reports that 90% women are subject to domestic violence, for example. If the mass communication media is largely liberal and increasingly international, what social factors and ideologies might still present barriers to women's progress? This book presents an investigation on very popular Urdu women's magazines and their readership, to find out what images of Pakistani life and values the digests promote, who reads them, and whether there is evidence that this vision influences the readers for good or ill. This book is also recommended to postgraduate students and teachers who are interested in robust research design approaches.

This book is based on my recent doctoral research and my experience of lecturing in Fatima Jinnah Women's University, Pakistan. I am working as a research associate in the School of Education, Durham University, UK. I am currently involved in experimental work to measure the impact of reading for pleasure on learning.