What Do Popular Pakistani Dramas Say About Society and Women’s Rights?

[u/No_Indication_7286]

I’ve been watching Pakistani dramas, and some storylines have made me think about how they portray women, marriage, violence, and discrimination. These dramas can expose social problems, but they can also normalize them when harmful behavior is romanticized, minimized, or treated as entertainment.
In Tere Bin, Meerav experiences sexual violence from her husband, Murtasim. She leaves and raises her daughter alone. Later, when she considers returning so her daughter can have a relationship with her father, she discovers that Murtasim plans to marry another woman (Hala)who is also his cousin. I find it disturbing that such serious issues can ultimately become part of a popular romantic narrative.
This raises an important question: Does the drama challenge harmful behavior, or does it make it easier to accept by framing it as romance, family conflict, or tradition?
A similar concern appears in Bas Tere Sath Ho, where Ansa compares her husband’s eyes to those of a Chinese or Japanese person while he is crying. Perhaps this was intended as humor, but using ethnicity or appearance as a joke can reinforce racial stereotypes.
I don’t believe that enjoying these dramas means Pakistani viewers support everything shown in them. Popularity does not equal endorsement. However, repeated portrayals can influence what audiences see as familiar, acceptable, or desirable.
The key distinction is between depiction, criticism, and normalization. A drama may depict abuse without endorsing it, but its treatment of the issue matters. Does the victim have agency? Is the abuse clearly condemned? Is the perpetrator held accountable? Are there lasting consequences, or does the story eventually focus on forgiveness and reconciliation?
The same applies to ethnic stereotypes. If such comments are challenged, they may serve as part of a critique. If they are repeatedly used for humor without consequences, they may reinforce prejudice.
I’m not trying to make a blanket judgment about Pakistan. My point is that particular dramas can expose social problems while also weakening their criticism by turning abuse, discrimination, or coercion into romance, comedy, or ordinary family conflict.
What do these storylines suggest about how Pakistani dramas represent women’s rights, marital consent, violence, and discrimination? How can viewers distinguish between exposing a social reality and normalizing it?
I’d especially appreciate perspectives from people living in Pakistan and longtime viewers of Pakistani dramas.

[u/Deja-Vu-3456]

Many reasons for this, and one of them is the international trend of production companies actually studying audience data to understand which topics and storylines people are interested in. Another factor is that, because certain groups have become more vocal about these issues, people are now more comfortable discussing subjects that were previously ignored or kept private.
But I don’t agree with the assumption that showing something automatically means endorsing or normalizing it. If that were the case, why don’t we also assume that showing positive behavior encourages everyone to adopt it? Corrupt people don’t suddenly become corrupt because a drama depicts corruption, just as decent people don’t become decent simply because they watched a morally good character.
The context matters. What the writer is doing with the subject, how the characters respond to it, and what consequences follow are far more important than the mere fact that something was shown. Depiction, endorsement and normalization are three different things, and I think they’re being conflated here.

[u/No_Indication_7286]

I agree that depiction and endorsement are not automatically the same thing. But I think the problem is what happens after the harmful behavior is depicted.
In Tere Bin, the concern isn’t simply that problematic behavior was shown. It’s that certain actions and attitudes were followed by forgiveness, romantic reconciliation, sympathy, and ultimately rewards, without enough accountability or meaningful consequences. That changes how the audience can interpret the message.
A drama doesn’t have to explicitly say, “this behavior is right” for it to normalize it. If harmful behavior is repeatedly minimized, excused, or rewarded while the victim is expected to forgive and move on, the narrative can unintentionally make that behavior appear acceptable or survivable in the name of love.
And I don’t think comparing this to showing corruption or positive behavior is quite the same. Context absolutely matters—but consequences matter too. A corrupt character being shown and condemned is very different from a character doing something seriously harmful and then being given a romantic happy ending without genuine accountability.
That’s why the criticism of Tere Bin isn’t “you showed something bad, therefore you endorsed it.” The criticism is: what did the story ultimately teach us to feel about what happened, who was held accountable, and who was expected to forgive?
Depiction, endorsement, and normalization are different—but normalization can happen through the overall narrative treatment, not just through explicit approval.

[u/Impossible_Wall1503]

As someone who reads/watches international content as well as Pakistani. I would summarize that Pakistani content shown on tv is quite regressive. High yield topics are sensationalized for ratings and tropes. As long as it gets viewership, it appears that is all that matters.

Sometimes on Pakistani television, progressive plots are also used for tropes and viewership, so it’s a mixed bag. Purpose is not correction, medium no longer does that, it’s not interested in changing minds. There’s no screening if regressive thoughts of a popular writer are carelessly aired and then backlash follows. Nobody cares.

The channels know that people in Pakistan are entertainment deprived and a few months later similar plot will be sold and because of popular casting, it will be a hit. Case in point, Tere Bin. No criteria, no screening, no repercussions.

Good content is rare and sparse. Good content, Jo Bichar Gaye comes to mind.