Women Instrumentalization and Environmental Deterioration: A Study of Ecofeminism in the Uzma Aslam Khan’s novel Thinner than Skin

Abstract

This study examines the intricate connections between women's outspoken oppression, ecofeminism, and ecological catastrophe in a society that is grappling with serious environmental problems and ongoing gender inequity in Uzma Aslam Khan’s novel Thinner than Skin. Khan deftly analyses how the earth is used and turned into a commodity. The novel examines the connections between oppression and the pressing need for a radical strategy that incorporates ecofeminism and gender equality for environmental justice. In the novel, Thinner than Skin, Khan raises important issues about how women may be influencing the course of the world. By applying theoretical framework of ecofeminism by Françoise d’Eaubonned’, this study utilized the perspective of ecofeminism to examine how the novel tackles the adverse effects of silencing voices, objectification of women based on cultural norms, the exploitation of the Earth's resources, and its influence on ecological crises. The writer portrays the principal effects of environmental deterioration as depicted in the novel and its correlation with the concept of resistance, specifically related to the suppressed and marginalized voices of women. This exploitation is frequently rationalized by a perceived social structure that prioritizes humans, specifically societies with male dominance, over the natural world.