Ms
Ayesha Masood Chaudhry
Ms Chaudhry's research interests stem heavily from her identity as a British-Pakistani female Muslim. Her introduction to anthropology came about with the aim to explore the multiplicities of associations held among diasporic communities, resulting in publications on the matter of dual citizens’ political, social and economic rights in Pakistan. As a female living in Pakistan, however, she has also been interested in the intersection between the notions of gender, marriage and kinship.
Ms Chaudhry initially combined such an inclination with her interest in diasporic studies to explore inter-ethnic marriages among British Pakistanis as her MPhil dissertation. For her PhD degree thesis, however, she found herself heavily inclined towards the gendered aspect of her research interests. Therefore, she opted to delve into the phenomenon of 'female singlehood' within urban Pakistani Muslim contexts as her PhD research project. The backdrop for this: marriage is considered a social necessity to be fulfilled in Pakistani society, and the voluntary and/or involuntary deviance exhibited by these females is an interesting avenue for exploration.
Gender and sexuality; Marriage in urban Pakistan; Inter-ethnic marriages in the British Pakistani community; Pakistani Identity, nationalism and the Pakistani diaspora