Interpretation of Wifehood: An Anthropological Study of Women in Rajput Folk Wedding Songs in District Bhakkar, Punjab Pakistan

Abstract

This research examines the portrayal of Rajput women in folk wedding songs in Bhakkar, Punjab1. The purpose of this research is to understand if folk wedding songs reinforce the negative perception of women as wives by providing them a platform to express and vent out their sentiments and at the same time reinforce the same image of women in social life. Anthropological data collection tools and techniques were used to collect and analyze data. The participant observation technique was used to collect valid and reliable data. The researcher participated in the marriage ceremonies and recorded all folk wedding songs sung by Rajput women that were later transcribed. Purposive sampling technique was used for the selection of five folk wedding songs that meet the objective of this research. Through in-depth interviews, the native interpretation of five selected songs was documented. For the interpretation of songs, snowball and purposive sampling techniques were used to conduct 43 in-depth interviews with women and 7 were selected for this research paper. Thematic analysis techniques were used for data analysis. The research demonstrates that folk wedding songs endorse the negative images of Rajput's wives as quarrelsome, treacherous, customary person in wedding folksongs.