Fragmented Anatomical Parts and Gender Representation: A Comparative Feminist Stylistic Analysis of Male and Female Bodies in Faruqi’s The Mirror of Beauty

Introduction

The representation of women and men in literature has been an interesting area of inquiry in the field of language and gender. The focus of the present study is to carry out a literary analysis of Shamsur Rahman Faruqi’s novel The Mirror of Beauty (2013) to analyze gender representation constructed through a description of women and men’s body parts. For this purpose, the fragmentation framework as suggested by Mills (1995) in her feminist stylistic analysis model is utilized. The term fragmentation is associated with several fields of study like media, biology, film and drama criticism, linguistics, stylistics, gender studies and literature. However, in language and gender studies, the feminists use fragmentation in relation to representation of the female body in any text i.e., literary, and non-literary texts, carrying and conveying gender related themes. Fragmentation is “the process whereby characters in texts are described in terms of their body-parts instead of as people” (Mills, 1995, p. 207). The feminists claim that this technique can be used to represent women’s bodies through different modes like pictures, commercials, statues, sculptures, paintings, movies, and literary texts. Mills (1995), too, asserts that the description of fragmented bodies is mostly done for the representation of women than that of the men. She further claims that such a presentation of the female through her body parts draws a negative image of the women where they are described as passive, natural and consumable objects. This fragmentation of the female characters co-occurs with male focalization. The researchers claim that this anatomical description of female body parts can represent them either positively (Green, 2016; Katrak, 2006; Morguson, 2013) or negatively (Kappeler,1986). From Mills’s (1995) perspective, fragmentation is a process whereby “characters in texts are described in terms of their body parts instead of as people” (p. 207). Hence, when described in relation to its body parts, a body is called a fragmented body. In literature this fragmentation, particularly that of female bodies in texts is a way to construct the culture and social portrayals as claimed by Jeffries (2007) and Mills (1995). Though this technique of fragmentation is mostly observed in pornographic literature, but genres of literature like romantic novels, short stories, dramas, and love poetry also present women as sexual objects by highlighting body parts. The utility of the investigation of fragmentation techniques for a better understanding of ideological messages and positive or negative attitudes towards gender depiction is maintained by Al-Nakeeb (2018) as well. The present study with a focus on a male writer’s linguistic choices for a description of his characters’ anatomical parts is significant as it will prove helpful to enhance the understanding of both the readers and the writers that how language can be used to affirm, propagate, or resist gender ideologies. This study is also of significance as no comparative study has been conducted yet to analyze the selected novel by Faruqi (2013) through feminist stylistics framework. The importance of such studies carried out to analyze literary work is also suggested as below:

Every study which contributes to the comprehension and interpretation of a literary work is legitimate. Every kind of study is welcomed if it adds to our knowledge of literary work or if it permits us to feel and enjoy it better (Alonso, 1942).

As for as theoretical significance of this study is concerned, it is expected to help in elaborating the practical implication of the existing theory and framework of Mills’ (1995) feminist stylistics. Hence, it will add new insights in the growing body of the knowledge in different fields like language and literature, sociolinguistics, sexism, feminism, and feminist stylistics. The findings of the study can be significant at a practical and pedagogical level as well where it will set the stage for the language teachers, students, researchers, scholars, writers and readers by suggesting the ways to read and analyze any text from gender perspective. This will prove helpful for them to carry out their relevant activities of the teaching and learning of language and literature, reading and analyzing language of different texts, and composing written texts that are free of gender bias. Hence, paving the way to avoid the sexist use of language and promoting the use of a biased free language to end discrimination against any gender.

With the aim to unravel the textual representation of women and men characters through their body parts, the researchers have set the following research question:

1. How are the characters’ anatomical parts exploited to represent women characters in comparison to men characters with reference to gendered ideologies in The Mirror of Beauty?

Literature review

Reviewing the studies carried out to see the relationship between language and gender, Meyerhoff (2019) claims that the “field of language and gender is one of the most dynamic in sociolinguistics” (p. 201). The researchers like Jespersen (1922) and Lakoff (1975) maintained that there is a close relationship between gender and language. The development of research on language and gender has undergone different phases. The first phase focused on differences between the speech of women and men. The second phase was concerned with finding the differences in the writings of female and male writers. The later research in the third phase started bringing into light the sexist use of language in different forms of discourse either written or spoken. In accordance with this third phase, the present research unpacks the relationship between linguistic choices and gender description in a written discourse i.e., a novel utilizing Mills’s (1995) model of feminist stylistics.

Several discourses have been analyzed from different perspectives utilizing this model of analysis to develop an understanding of how female characters are represented in certain texts. These studies conducted by using feminist stylistics framework to analyze representation of women in literary and non-literary texts show the utility of this framework to explore the linguistic bias in order to struggle for the emancipation of womanhood (Ufot, 2012). While analyzing online texts, Page (2010) found that the language used to express sexual experiences shows that “instead of representing a shift towards feminine agency, the verbal constructions either depersonalize the sex acts⋯ or continue to represent the woman as the acted upon participant” (p. 81). Other than online texts, the language of newspapers has also been analyzed utilizing feminist stylistics approach by Laine and Watson (2014). The researchers like Khan and Ateeq (2017) and Sher and Saleem (2023) have utilized feminist stylistics framework to see gender differences in matrimonial ads. Advertisements, too, have been analyzed to see gender representation through the lens of feminist stylistics approach. For example, Coffey (2013) analyzed the grammatical structure to highlight how men’s conduct, and their related ideologies are institutionalized in women’s magazines. Another contribution in this field is by Riaz and Tehseem (2015) who identified how women are presented as sex objects in media advertisements. Other studies conducted to analyze print media advertisements have reached at the conclusion that advertisers are “propagators of gender ideologies” (Radzi & Musa, 2017, p. 35).

Fragmentation, one of the frameworks from feminist stylistics theory, has been analyzed by several feminist critics with reference to viewing the female body via its anatomical parts. Mills (1995) proposed the idea that females are presented as sexual objects where their bodies are fragmented and categorized but the same does not happen in the projection of male characters (Mills, 1995). The studies within feminist literary criticism carried out to see women’s bodies concluded that the biased representation of females through their body parts relegates them to mere objects (Brown, 2012; Innes-Parker, 1995; June, 2010).

In recent studies carried out by Rennick et al. (2023) and SooHoo (2022), it was revealed that female representation is biased where women characters are projected as sexualized objects through their body images in video games. Other than this, the use of fragmentation in literary texts has also been analyzed through feminist stylistics lens. In his study of a Yemeni novel, Al-Nakeeb (2018) found that the bodies of females and males are, though, equally fragmented, yet represent women and men differently where the female characters are projected through their beauty and sexual appeal while the men are fragmented to highlight their physical strengths/deficiencies and their social power. The negative image of the women is also built through collocations as highlighted by Al-Nakeeb and Mufleh (2018) and Alzamil et al., (2023) in their respective studies. They found that male characters are represented as cheerful and lively while female characters are presented as dependent ones. Likewise, in a study conducted by Wulandari (2018), it was found that women are described through their body parts while men are described in relation to their overall appearance. Hence, women are not presented as a whole entity which demeans their roles in the text. This representation of gender through a description of female body parts has been seen as a tool for perpetuating gender stereotypes by some recent studies as well. For example, while analyzing Roy’s The God of Small Things (1997), Ansar and Hussain (2025) maintained that bodily descriptions of the female characters reinforce females’ subjugation within a male-dominated society. Likewise, in their recent study of a novel titled Lucy (1990), Achili and Rahil (2025) also found that objectification of women in literature is reinforced through the description of their body parts like eyes, stomach, feet and skin.

The present study is expected to be a good addition in this ongoing field of feminist studies focusing on the relationship between language and gender as it analyzes the use of fragmentation in an Indian English novel The Mirror of Beauty written by Shamsur Rahman Faruqi and published in 2013. Faruqi’s (2013) adherence to the stylistic conventions of classical Urdu and Persian storytelling with a touch of cultural and historical realism in this novel has invited a number of researchers to examine this novel from different perspectives. The previous studies have analyzed this work from feminist, historical and postcolonial perspectives. For example, Fayyaz and Jabbar (2024) have analyzed this work from a feminist perspective with a focus on the description of female beauty in this novel. Khan and Khatoon (2021), have investigated this text with reference to defiance against patriarchal norms from a postcolonial perspective. Similarly in a study conducted by Kayani and Anwar (2022) with a focus on fragmented use of two body parts i.e., eyes and face to see gender depiction in Faruqi’s (2013) work, it has been found that female characters’ sexuality and physical attractiveness is highlighted through their anatomical parts while men are portrayed as physically strong characters showing positive personality traits.

In contrast to these previous studies, the present study takes a different approach with a special focus on the stylistic and thematic interpretation of body parts, both as a whole and in parts, for women and men characters in The Mirror of Beauty (2013). The researchers have selected this novel because it offers a panoramic view of 19th-century India where a rich description of male and female body parts is given to showcase gender ideologies of that time. These gendered portrayals through body parts description can be observed as a reconstruction of a past India where gender ideologies were deeply rooted in cultural and societal expectations. This study is expected to make a good contribution in the field of language and gender from fragmentation perspective as it is claimed that literary analysis is helpful in uncovering the deeper meanings contained within literary texts (Imran et al., 2023; Manyak & Manyak, 2021; Raza et al., 2022).

Theoretical Framework

The present study is based on Mills’s (1995) feminist stylistics model deeply rooted in feminist literary criticism. By highlighting the issue of linguistic sexism, Mills (1995) suggested different ways to examine texts from a feminist perspective in her feminist stylistics which is both a theory and a method. Feminist stylistics is defined as “a form of politically motivated stylistics whose aim is to develop an awareness of the way gender is handled in texts.” (Mills, 1995, p. 165). This theory emerged as a field of study from stylistics which, as a branch of applied linguistics, implies both literary criticism and linguistics (Saadia et al., 2015). It is defined as an approach “which pays attention to the formal features of the text and its reception within a reading community in relation to ideology” (Mcrae & Clark as cited in Davies & Elder, 2004, p. 332). Keeping in mind the basic aim of this study, Mills’s (1995) model is chosen because it incorporates the feminist theory into stylistics. Moreover, its concern with the manifestation of gender in general in texts is also suitable for this study where the researchers have an interest to analyze both the women and men characters. It goes with the concern of Mills’s (1995) model which claims that how its aim is to see “how women and men are constructed at a representational and at an actual level” (p. 3).

The feminist stylistics model of analysis recommends carrying out a linguistic analysis of any text at three levels: word level, clause/sentence level and discourse level. The word level allows the researchers to investigate the sexist/nonsexist use of generic nouns and pronouns, naming and semantic derogation. At the level of sentence, the attention is paid to the sexist use of phrases and clauses in relation to jokes, transitivity, and metaphors. The third level, the discourse analysis, concerns the ways in which characters are described in relation to their personality, roles, and fragmentation. From within these three levels and discursive frameworks, the present study chooses the framework of fragmentation at discourse level to investigate how the bodies of women and men are described in a text with what ideologies.

In proposing to analyze the text at discourse level, Mills (1995), in fact, tries to connect the word and the phrase with a “larger notion of ideology” (p. 123). She suggests that the analysis of discourse should be made as “discourse is profoundly gendered” (p. 124). The characters appearing in a literary text are not just the result of the play of words, but these carry a whole mindset and ideology about certain phenomena prevalent in society. The writers, intentionally or unintentionally, either cement or challenge existing ideologies related to gender through a representation of their characters. Mills (1995), while talking about the construction of the characters, claims that the writers make linguistic choices in connection with gender stereotypes. She further asserts that characters are not “simulacra of humans” (p. 123). According to her, characters are nothing more than words which are constructed and understood based on different gender stereotypes prevalent in society.

The information provided by the writer about his/her characters can be direct or indirect as suggested by Culpeper and Fernandez-Quintanilla (2017). The information regarding characters’ physical appearance or their personal qualities when described by the writer is called direct characterization. In indirect characterization the narrator highlights the character’s strength and feelings by narrating their actions and feelings or by the comments of other characters about a particular character. The art of characterization is very important for fiction writers to give a realistic touch to their work. Though a realistic description of characters wins both applause and appeal of the readers, the characters that appear to be real are not actually real. These characters vary gender and nature wise. The ideas and stereotypes prevalent in society do affect the writers while describing their characters.

The utility of feminist stylistic framework has been maintained by a number of researchers who have used this model of analysis to explore gendered use of language in fairytales (Arikan, 2016), movies (Bado, 2021), poems (Ashimbuli,2022; Hama, 2017; Woldemariam, 2018), short stories (Denopra, 2012; Kudus, 2008; Savinainen, 2001; Verma & Dahiya, 2016) and novels (Anwar et al., 2023; Anwar et al., 2024; Atoke, 2021; Darweesh & Ghayadh, 2016; David, 2020; Isti'anah, 2019; Kang &Wu, 2015; Kayani & Anwar, 2022; Kayani et al., 2023; Khazai et al., 2016; Supriyadi, 2014; Ufot, 2012). All these studies have explored the language of their relevant texts at different levels of word, clause and discourse and have found feminist stylistic framework useful to carry out their linguistic analysis from gender perspective.

In accordance with this interconnection of feminist stylistic model to analyze the relationship between gender and language, the present study researchers attempt to examine the construction of both the male and female characters in the selected text with a focus on the description of their body parts.

Research Methodology

Keeping in view the basic aim of this study the researchers have opted for the qualitative research method. In qualitative research as claimed by Vanderstoep and Johnston (2008), a researcher produces a narrative or textual description of the phenomenon under study. From within qualitative research, the qualitative content analysis (QCA) method, which was defined as “a research method for the subjective interpretation of the content of text data through the systematic classification process of coding and identifying themes or patterns” (Hsieh & Shannon, 2005, p. 1278), was adopted. Krippendorff (2018) asserts that this method of study examines the existence, meanings, and connections of words and concepts which are embedded in cultural artifacts. Moreover, the processes in QCA, like data collection, data analysis, and interpretation, do not always follow a predetermined structure to discover implicit themes in content (Bryman, 2016; White & Marsh, 2006).

Procedure

The present study utilizes qualitative content analysis for analyzing the text by following a step-by-step procedure as Mayring (2004) claims this approach to be “an approach of empirical, methodological controlled analysis of texts within their context of communication, following content analytic rules and step by step models, without rash quantification” (p. 2). Three –phase schema of textual analysis as suggested by Kibiswa (2019) for qualitative researchers is adopted. This schema is based on an iterative and non-linear way inspired by the schemas described by Elo and Kyngäs (2008). At the preparation phase, the researchers decided on the material and meaning unit for this study, i.e., a novel and the extracts describing characters through their body parts. This was followed by a close reading of the text to highlight and tag the meaning units to extract relevant texts with a description of male and female body parts. At the data analysis phase, these highlighted textual units were marked on separate sheets for women and men characters to reach at gender ideologies related to the depiction of gender. The researchers then gave description in the form of text form with explanations and references. The body parts within the identified extracts were discussed and highlighted in relation to contextual explanation and the built-up images of women and men were analyzed in relation to positive and negative images of both. Figure 1 gives an overall view of the structure of the study.

Figure 1.

Aim of the study, theoretical framework, and level of analysis

Results and Discussion

Mills (1995) asserts that the female characters are described through fragmentation where they are not described as a whole body, but their body parts are described to arouse and enhance their sexual appeal. Keeping in view these claims, the present study researchers have found that both the bodies of women and men are fragmented with a description of their body parts but with different effects and for different purposes in this novel. The following discussion presents an analysis of these body parts to show their semantic functioning for each gender.

Conclusion

Based on the above discussion, it can be concluded that both the male and female characters of Faruqi’s (2013) are described through fragmentation but they are marked differently from each other. The positive depiction of men presents an idealized picture of them in relation to their power, authority, strength and masculinity which aligns with the cultural and literary traditions of 19^th century India where male characters were usually associated with strength, wisdom, honor and chivalry. In contrast to this ideal picture of the men, women’s sexual appeal and seductive nature is highlighted through their attractive sexual body parts which relegates them to a position of a commodity to satisfy the gaze of men. Hence, Faruqi (2013) portrayal of his men and women characters through their body parts has served to reinforce societal hierarchies and the patriarchal structure of 19th-century Indian society which often idealizes men as brave warriors, warriors, poets, intellectuals and heads of the families while women are portrayed through a lens of aestheticization and desirability. Table 1 presents an overview of how different ideologies are constructed attached to each gender with respect to the description their bodies/body parts. women are described only negatively through their fragmented body parts but Faruqi’s (2013) description of men through their body or fragmented body parts draws a balanced picture of them where they possess all the qualities of head and heart. When probing into negative traits, it is observed that women are presented negatively in all the cases. The men, on the other hand, are shown positively in most of the cases and the only negative trait highlighted in them is their being lustful. Other than this, men’s body parts are used in a neutral way where these function in a neutral way i.e., showing routine activities or processes.

Table 1.

Fragmented Bodies and Gendered Ideologies in TMOB

The researchers conclude that the bodies of the female characters in TMOB are presented not only in fragments but also as a whole where both cases are utilized to present them merely sexual objects. Moreover, what this study finds different from the previous findings (Mills, 1995; Wulandari, 2018) is that the bodies of the men are also described through their body parts but with a different purpose to present them stereotypically in a positive way most of the time as given in Table 1. The researchers have also found feminist stylistic framework very helpful for carrying out linguistic analysis of a literary text from gender perspective. The researchers recommend that this model can be utilized in future studies as well to study both the literary and non- literary texts to unravel a writer’s attitude towards gender description.

Acknowledgments

The authors thank Prince Sultan University for funding this research project under the Language and Communication Research Lab grant [RL-CH-2019/9/1].

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