Negotiating Present with the Past: An Analytical Study of Gender Performativity in Generation X in Pakistan

The institution of parenthood is a significant agent of socialization through which children learn values, gender roles, and future responsibilities. In Pakistan, culture, religion, and expectations of honour, conduct, and family duty are pivotal determinants of parenting. The research examines the practice of parenting in Generation X parents through Butler’s notion of gender performativity, which elucidates the perpetuation of gender roles in everyday, reiterated practices. Twenty semi-structured interviews were carried out with ten male and ten female parents residing in rural and urban areas near Rawalpindi and Islamabad. The results reveal that, despite parents’ beliefs that they were raising their sons and daughters equally, gendered expectations were still deeply entrenched. Son’s are socialized to enter the public labour force, and daughters are socialized to be homemakers. Parenting was predominantly influenced and practiced by one's own parents, not by the media, perpetuating generational patterns. Even when education and urbanization introduce some change, social structures such as patriarchy continue to be powerful. The research finds that parenting is the principal site for the performance, reproduction, and transmission of gender norms across generations.