Hegemonic masculinity in Pakistan: A critical study of selected Pakistani TV serials

This study focused on the representation of hegemonic masculinity in Pakistani TV serials. Its motivation came from the analysis of Pakistani drama, which does not adequately cover women's rights. Pakistani TV serials have this masculine attitude which is the leading cause of many conflicts in Pakistani society. Connell developed this hegemonic theory as a theoretical framework in this present research. Through this theory, it can be clear that hegemonic masculinity depends upon which factors and how these factors are collected together to make this hegemonic term stronger in Pakistani society. This quantitative research investigates two selected Pakistani TV serials, namely "Rang Mahal" and "Qayammat". The findings of this research make clear that hegemonic masculinity is not only a term but a disease which have deep roots in Pakistani society. And this disease infects not only people; Pakistan's norms, values, and culture are also distracted day by day. Recommendations and suggestions for future researchers are also added at the end of the research.


INTRODUCTION
Hegemonic masculinity is a proper mindset vastly present in Pakistani society. It mainly originates from society's values to behave like economic, social, political, and cultural opportunities for males. Hegemonic masculinity is a platform that targets females and creates many obstacles for them in society. This masculine attitude is not only spread by societal norms, but Pakistani electronic media is also the leading cause. In Pakistan, different entertainment sources spread this attitude in different ways. Hegemonic masculinity is considered to be an "idealized, culturally ascendant masculinity" (Aullette et al., 2009). These entertainment sources include TV shows, drama series, movies, talk shows, and many others, representing hegemonic masculinity in Pakistan broadly.
In Pakistani TV serials, it can easily be observed that the male is dominant and how they use their power against poor ladies. Similarly, these Pakistani TV serials cause to change the male minds and unconsciously force them to think about their dominance, and then they use their power against women without any fear. So, it can easily be observed that Pakistani TV serials are directly involved in rising male dominance. Ali & Batool (2015), Fogel (2012), Gürkan (2022), Giaccardi et al. (2016Giaccardi et al. ( -2017, Oppliger (2007), Srivastava & Roy (2011) and Torre (1990) argued that media had close-link with human and this media is found to reinforce the notion of conventional masculine and feminine. Media represents these gender views which are the main cause of negative traits separation (Levant & Richmond, 2008). Pakistan is a country that gives equal rights to both genders, but somehow, our media representation cannot show that right even if it hides women's rights and shows male dominance. Hegemonic masculinity is an archetype for adolescent boys that is mentally and physically harmful to themselves and others. The term hegemonic refers to the leadership or dominance of a group over another group, and masculinity means having qualities traditionally ascribed to men as strength and boldness.
Pakistani TV drama always represents masculinity as the main punch. Through this masculinity representation, not only are our values destructed, but our equality system is also finishing day by day. Pakistani drama industry is somehow changing day by day, but this changing process is very slow. In the past, due to lack of education and resources, the Pakistani drama industry was built in a patriarchal system which also made this industry conservative (Hadi, 2017). So, in Pakistani society, electronic media has the strength to run this society in the way of their mindset. Hegemonic masculinity has been measured via the characteristics identified by Connell (2000). The primary steps for hegemonic masculinity were taken to be an authority, aggressiveness, and subordination of women.
Authoritative: When one character in any serial shows self-confidence in respect of other characters. Aggressiveness: When one character shows forceful, and tries to attack other characters in any serial. This indicates aggressiveness in the serial. Subordination of women: When a character behaves woman considers her less important, but at the same time, concerning her as a husband or any other connection.

LITERATURE REVIEW
Males contain a particular culture, societal norms, and values, which are the main cause of this masculinity (Srivastava & Roy, 2011). This concluded that masculinity could not produce without social and cultural institutions. Different societal departments produce this hegemonic masculinity (Connell, 1997;. Another research conducted by Luyt (2012) suggested that the representation of hegemonic masculinity favors white males compared to colored males. Because of colors and race differences, different males take benefit of these traits. Srivastava &Roy (2011) andO'Hanlon (1997) stated that the representation of masculinities differs with time, and places difference is also important for it. Conversely, social places and context are also important for masculinities power. However, context is also important for hegemonic masculinity because people's minds depend upon environmental factors, which make them either bad or good for society. O'Hanlon (1997) argued that different colonizers used this power according to their objectives in India. Secondly, another point is that British colonizers used British masculinity, represented by action, power, and strength, to show Indian colonizers inferior to them. Time and places differ in the masculinities representation. On the third step, Aurat Foundation (2016), Brandth & Hugen (2005) stated that rural and urban areas also have this impact at different rates. It has been found that rural areas lack this representation in respect of urban areas. This difference might be due to lack of education or resources and power. People use this masculinity power when they cannot become equal with women.
Aggressiveness is the main factor of hegemonic masculinity, which shows how one character of any serial attacks another character consciously or unconsciously. This aggressiveness is related to violence in demand for possession (Courtenay, 2000;Greig et al., 2000). But in the view of Connell (1995), many societies and masculine cultures cannot think of this war and violence positively. This masculine culture has two types in which one culture thinks this attitude positively, and another culture think this attitude negatively, but overall this masculine attitude is very harmful to all societies. In another way, aggression and violence are represented in TV serials in the form of power through which males show power, and through this power, they want to take females under control.
At last, the characteristic of hegemonic masculinity affecting Pakistani society is women's subordination. In this factor, males want economic, social, and political control over females. When this factor is overpowered in any society, males' talents are more important than females' (Donaldson, 1993).

Research Questions
Based on the available literature on masculinity, the following research questions are proposed: RQ1: What effect have Pakistani TV serials had on the notion of hegemonic masculinity? RQ2: What are the main aspects of hegemonic masculinity that were shown to be more prevalent in these TV serials? RQ3: Does the rate of hegemonic masculinity differs with the place, time, and education?

SIGNIFICANCE OF STUDY
In further detail, this study aims to analyze that in Pakistan TV serials, negative traits like the aggression of masculinity are not as visible as positive traits of masculinity. Our media is not showing this throughout a year or two years; instead, this study investigates how our media represents this masculinity power throughout 50 years. Society's values and customs of a country depend on media representations. Still, after this study, it is clear that our media makes it challenging to build equality rights and values. This suggests that media portrayals of masculinity need to be assessed to determine what kinds of messages about gender norms are being perpetuated. Secondly, this present study aims to analyze the extent to which the notion of masculinity was propagated in the data set of the most popular television drama serials aired in Pakistan. Thirdly, his present study investigates the separation of hegemonic masculinity through selected drama analysis. Because besides female identity, masculinity is also a common message sent to us through our media.
Hegemonic masculinity is a disorder in not our only country; the whole world is infected with this. People are not aware of this term and its disadvantages of this term. Through this research, people can be aware of how this hegemonic masculinity cause to make conflicts between people. This disease has deep roots in Pakistani society and mainly attacks females. Females are aware of their rights, but these females are not much more. In Pakistani culture, women do not want their rights according to Islam or their religious books, but they want their rights according to western culture. This is a contradictory action against the Pakistani society because of unhealthy comparison between two ideologies, Eastern and Western. South Asian and Western regions have many sociocultural, religious and economic differences because of which Pakistani society cannot support the western feminist narratives. However, women should not be treated as subaltern and oppressed class of the society in Pakistan (Imran & Gull, 2017;Akhtar et al., 2021;Ghafoor & Farooq, 2020). Women faced mainly authority or aggressiveness of males, which is the primary deadline of Pakistani TV serials. Through these selected TV serials' analyses, this present study conveys the message of this masculine attitude ratio in Pakistani society and Pakistani media.

THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK
In the view of Connell, this study investigates the hegemonic masculinity presented in Pakistani TV serials. Masculinity is the ability of men to control women in terms of their decision and body control. Men take advantage of the term "Honor" through which they hold women, and in answer, no law of this country stopped them. Pakistani TV serials and other entertainment sources present this attitude because of men's media control. Pakistani media have men's empowerment in the shape of producers, writers, and presenters, mostly males. In another sense, these writers or producers only follow social norms and values and these values have a masculine attitude towards them.
The population of the study was Pakistani serials played on TV channels as an entertainment source. The main purpose of these TV serials is only for entertainment and enjoyment, but viewers watch these serials with a proper mindset. In order to conduct the in-depth study, the sample was shortened for this research are two TV serials, i.e., "Rang-Mehal" and "Qayammat".

ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION
This research was conducted after analyzing two Pakistani TV serials, "Rang Mehal" and "Qayammat". These two TV serials have many protagonists, the main tragic heroes of these TV serials. In the first TV serial, "Rang Mehal", the female name "Mahpaara" face this masculine behavior from his male relatives. On the other side, in the second TV serial, "Qayammat", two sisters, who belong to a low-income family, face this masculine behavior. The main unit of this analysis is the actions and dialogues performed in these TV serials. All these scenes clearly show those steps of hegemonic masculinity discussed in the research methodology. Masculinity covers all the rights of males, which they use negatively for their negative aims. In their negative aims, their authority is their main power which they use for the opposite gender and makes their mission possible. After a deep analysis, the researchers point out that from the main steps of hegemonic masculinity, these TV serials represent the many steps in the high range and few in the medium range. In these steps, the first one is the authority, shown in these TV serials in 49% of scenes collected from drama scenes by listening to dialogues and then dialogues and actions analysis. And secondly, the step is aggressiveness which is present in 30% of the scenes in these TV serials. The other factor, the subordination of women, is present in these TV serials in 21% of the scenes. This percentage of these factors is not an assumed value, but it is designed by deeply analyzing these dramas' dialogues and actions, and then the percentage was calculated.
Percentage 1. Authoritative 49% 2. Aggressiveness 30% 3. Sub-Ordination of Women 21% This data percentage is assumed after the view of all scenes of the TV serials. And after the total number of all scenes, this division is concluded in the shape of a percentage. These four steps of hegemonic masculinity are computed together to make sense of hegemonic masculinity in TV serials at a high rate. After the collected analysis, the mean rate of hegemonic masculinity is 2.98 out of 4.00, which is shown in the given table. Hegemonic masculinity is a form that is changed by percentage with changes in place, time, and education. In Pakistani society, the rate of hegemonic masculinity mainly varies with education and time, because educated people have much more awareness about females' rights than uneducated people. Uneducated people only think about their status and value in society, so they want to control their females according to their thinking. In this research, many tests are conducted to investigate the hegemonic masculinity percentage in these selected TV serials. In these tests, the main factors observed from these serials are; the difference between educated and uneducated people, urban and rural areas difference, early ages, and nowadays differences. All these factors make the hegemonic masculinity level at a high rate.
The factors observed from these TV serials are; the difference in educated and uneducated people's understanding. Because educated and uneducated persons understand this hegemonic term in different ways. This difference is observed in these dramas at a different rate. Educated people adopt this term at a low rate in these two TV serials. The hegemonic masculinity level by educated people is about 38%, and by uneducated people, this term adoption is about 62%. When this percentage is taken in mean value, this level is 2.99 by uneducated people from a maximum of four values and 1.7 by educated people.
Another observed factor is the difference between people in urban and rural areas. In rural areas, people have low awareness about women's rights because they are about equal to uneducated people. So, the hegemonic masculinity level in rural areas is the same as in uneducated people. These selected TV serials clearly show this difference in education and place. On the other side, in these selected TV serials, it is also observed that people are aware of every right of females but do not want to let them be used in real life. They only want to become powerful in comparison to females, either these females attached to them as their sister, wife, or through other relations. After analysis, the mean values observed from the said serials are 2.99 and 1.7 (educated people have more masculine attitudes than uneducated people).
The findings of this study reveal that the ratio of hegemonic masculinity present in these selected two TV serials (Rang-Mahal & Qayammat) is very high. In part of the research methodology, many factors are discussed and analyzed. First, it can be observed that the factor of authority in these selected dramas is about 49%, representing the authority of one male character compared to other female characters. These authority factors were found to be very common in all views (Bhasin, 2006;Courtenay, 2000;Greig et al., 2000). After analyzing the authority factor, the aggressiveness factor was analyzed, which is about 30% in these two serials. This factor shows that in these TV serials, many characters are present who attack other characters on the base of their power and strength. The third factor is 'subordination of women', which is about 21% in these serials. So, it can be observed that males give less importance to females even though these females are present in their relationships as their wives or sisters. These findings are totally related to previous literature, which discussed the dominance of males (Ali & Batool, 2015;Aurat Foundation, 2016;Torre, 1990) or conflict between relations (Heise, 1997;Harvey & Gow, 1994). All these factors are present in an equal ratio in these modern types of TV serials. When the mean value of hegemonic masculinity is analyzed, this value is about 2.98 out of four.
Representation of hegemonic masculinity differs with these factors: education, time, and places. This research analyzes the value of hegemonic masculinity through time, place, and education in both mean values and percentage values. Educated people adopt this term in a minor way, whose ratio is 38% and the mean value is 1.7 out of four. On the other hand, the ratio of hegemonic masculinity to uneducated people is about 62%, and the mean value is 2.99 out of the maximum value. According to the past literature, Ashcraft & Flores (2003);Bhasin (2006); Hadi (2017); Signorielli (2009) argued that occupation plays a fundamental role in hegemonic masculinity representation, so in this study, these factors (time, place, education) relates to this occupation term. Secondly, after the analysis based on education, the other factor is 'urban and rural areas difference,' which has the same ratio and mean value as in the education factor. The time difference is also the main cause of this hegemonic masculinity disease. But in the future, this disease may decrease or finish due to more awareness. Conversely, it is also concluded that class difference is also important in the hegemonic term. Because the elite and middle classes are become more hegemonic than the working classes because of their resources (Altaf, 2019). All these findings clearly show that hegemonic masculinity is a disease that has deep roots in Pakistani society, and this disease is the main cause of conflicts between groups, families, and other people.
Another main thing that affects society through hegemonic masculinity is time and eras difference. When the data from previous eras were taken out, it can be observed that the ratio and mean value of hegemonic masculinity became very low. In the middle eras, this masculine attitude increased very highly. In the future eras, it hopes this attitude might be decreased because of different campaigns by women for their rights in Pakistan and the world. The objective of this campaign is to make women aware people with women's rights in society and makes them equal to males in society. Akca & Ergül (2014) examined that the depiction of hegemonic masculinity is becoming slow over time and with the shifting of the world older to the modern world.

CONCLUSION
Pakistani country has a masculine attitude in society, which depends on time, place, and education status. These factors spread hegemonic masculinity at a different rate which is analyzed in this research. Race difference is also the leading cause of masculine attitude because this research cleared that white males take the benefit in respect of colored males for hegemonic masculinity. Other factors of hegemonic masculinity, which are authority and aggression, are also the primary weapon of males' power. In relation to these two factors, the factor 'subordination of women' also has the same ratio in society which is represented in Pakistani TV serials. Males want to become powerful, but in reality, they cannot know the linear path to their power. Pakistani TV serials represent this path in the shape of a masculine attitude. This study highlights that according to males' thinking, both genders can never be equal, so with this thought, they want to control the females attached to them in the shape of a wife or sister. Females also have deficient awareness of their rights, and few females in Pakistani society have awareness. However, these females do not want their proper rights; they want to become equal with western females. This study further examined that the Pakistani drama industry has very high effects on people's minds which controls their style of living and way of thinking. When this masculine attitude is commonly represented in TV serials, then males think about it and use it in their houses and societies.

LIMITATIONS AND FURTHER RESEARCH
This literature study consists of two Pakistani TV serials with this masculine attitude. Other limitations of this study are the analysis of only two serials that are based on hegemonic masculinity, the theory by Cornell. The researchers can use this study for taking help for conducting further research.