Final Year Project

Project Title

Wedding Expenses and Voice of Urban Working Women: How Do Pakistani Urban Middle-class Working Women Conceptualize Decision Making and Autonomy in terms of Their Wedding Expenses?

Description

The research aims to explore and understand the notion of autonomy and agency of urban middle-class Pakistani women in terms of their wedding expenses. Working women challenge the patriarchal structure of society by practising financial independence. Women feel empowered, and responsible and yet overwhelmed with earning an income and spending it on themselves on their wedding day. Women were asked about how they managed their expenses and how the patterns changed after their wedding. This qualitative study comprised three in-depth interviews. Content analysis was employed for data analysis. Findings illustrate that women did feel empowered and content, and their husbands did not interfere in their decision-making of expenditures but rather supported them in their endeavours. Women reported to have mostly spent on their personal expenses such as the wedding dress, and not on other arrangements. Themes of responsibility, guilt, and the importance of education leading to empowerment emerged.