Re: Why Sufis conveyed their message through female characters?
No it’s not off topic question, it’s a very good question to further the discussion.
First thing first, I am not qualified to talk on ‘desi’ culture, I can only comment Pakistani culture.
The word ‘proper’ is subjective, if not, just vague. To me, proper respect for woman would mean legal, political, social and economic equality, considering there had never been a proper women’s movement in Pakistan nor we are seeing any present chances of any such movement brewing under the surface, it is not surprising to see women’s rights are virtually non existent in Pakistan.
However, if you ask me if women are respected in domestic sphere, I’d say yes. Women as mothers, sisters and daughters are deeply loved and respected. Women as wives are also loved but what I find interesting is that when women are married they are more exposed to woman on woman disrespect than facing direct oppression by men.
When I was studying English literature here in Britain, I always used to really admire the way in Eastern Islamic culture woman’s body is considered sacred. I’m sure there’s plethora of sexual references in Eastern Islamic literature but women are not explicitly presented as sexual objects neither in visual arts nor in literary texts.