Disguised Identities as Mask for Negation of Patriarchal Norms in Nadia Hashimi’s the Pearl that Broke its Shell

The present research study focuses upon the discussion of the disguised identities of Afghani women in the text The Pearl that Broke its Shell by an Afghan American writer Nadia Hashimi. The Afghani women adopt the disguised identities to survive in male dominated societies and the research strives to answer the reasons behind this adopted strategy. Judith Butler views have been taken as a theoretical framework to strengthen the research argument, who negotiate that in modern times there seems to be no fixed gender. The text elaborates the Afghan tradition of Bacha posh negating feminine gender and tells that how women break their shells, and boundaries to survive in male dominated Afghanistan. The research answers the primal point that how this practice and the struggle of Afghani women pose the question mark on the Afghan patriarchy and it enhances the determination and self-will of feminine gender. Besides, the research is qualitative in nature