Vol 4 No 4 | Jan-Mar 2025

Sultan’s Dream

Story by Soham Dey | Art by Pia Aliza Hazarika

 

Sultana’s Dream and Begum Rokeya

Source: https://tarabooks.com/shop/sultanas-dream/

This comic is essentially fan fiction! It is based on Sultana’s Dream, an utopian science fiction short story written by Rokeya Sakhawat Hossain, also known as Begum Rokeya. Begum Rokeya was a feminist thinker, writer, and educator from colonial Bengal, widely regarded as the pioneer of feminist thinking in the region.

She wrote and published Sultana’s Dream, in English, in 1905. The story describes the dream of a Bengali housewife, Sultana, in which she finds Ladyland, a country where women roam freely on the streets, running all businesses and institutions, while the men remain locked up inside ‘mardanas’, a satirical version of the real life South Asian ‘zenana,’ an interior area within the house that women would be confined to.

Although not too widely read in India, the story is considered a landmark in feminist sci-fi internationally. It has recently inspired many academic and creative projects, such as an art exhibit by Chitra Ganesh, an interactable online visual story by Afrah Shafiq, and Spanish animator Isabel Herguera’s feature length animated film of the same name.

You can read the entire story here!

 

Welcome to the Manosphere

If you’ve spent a decent amount of time on the internet recently, you’ve probably heard of phrases like ‘alpha male’ and ‘sigma male’ and seen countless comments making fun of women under all sorts of content online. The past few years have seen the birth of a new online movement and space, focussed on men’s rights and reinforced notions of masculinity. Spread by influencers like popular podcast host (and now convict) Andrew Tate, a culture of ‘toxic masculinity’ has taken birth online.

The ‘manosphere’ is a loose conglomeration of online spaces where people talk about men’s issues, but not always in a healthy way. While some discussions are about real problems men face, others blame women and propagate harmful stereotypes like saying men should always dominate relationships or women should only do domestic work.

A pushback against growing feminist and progressive movements especially in developed parts of the world, the manosphere is inhabited by those who believe that in today’s time, men are the ones being oppressed and unfairly treated.

 

Toxic masculinity and the gender divide

In an attempt to regain older ideas of what it means to be a man, ‘toxic masculinity’ often ends up putting masculinity in a box, reinforcing ideas like men always having to be tough and showing no emotions. It is also generally extremely misogynistic and includes genuinely harmful sentiments towards women.

In real life as well, the gap between young men and women seems to be increasing, with a wider political divide on gender lines than ever before. South Korea is a notorious example, where men have been growing increasingly conservative and women increasingly progressive.

It is important to remember – as Sultan realises by the end of the comic – what really matters is to be true to yourself and who you are. Online or offline, be kind, honest, and genuine!

 

Other feminist utopias

The genre of utopian fiction has long been a powerful tool for feminists across the globe to re-imagine a world free of the many shackles of patriarchal society as well as criticise them through satire. They often re-imagine gender and societal structures in absolutely revolutionary ways. Other similar stories and books you can check out include Herland by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, Woman on the Edge of Time by Marge Piercy, and my personal favourite, The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula Le Guin.