Aurat (word)

Aurat means a "woman" or a "wife" in Urdu and Hindi languages. The nomenclature "aurat" is used in many Asian languages including Arabic, Azerbaijani & Iranian Azeri (arvad), Bengali, Hindi, Persian, Punjabi, (avret) and Indonesian.
Etymology and socio-cultural construct
Word Aurat comes from Arabic word 'awrah' transforming 'awrah' to → 'awrat'. In Arabic, the words awrah or awrat denotes defectiveness, imperfection, blemish, weakness, genitalia, loins, private parts, pudendum flaw, defect, and fault. Aharôn Layiš' book on family laws among Druz attributes a quote to one al-Tanukhi that says "..Women are all nakedness (awrat) and all nakedness should be covered" As per Moshe Piamenta in his book "Islam in Everyday Arabic Speech", notes that in bedouin language, synecdochic usage of word 'awrat' denotes 'woman'. In Kurdish language word 'Aurat' for women is spelled as 'avarat' where as in Turkish language it is spelled as 'Avret'
Before entering South Asia, in the past, it was used in Farsi i.e. Persian language in Iran to mean 'woman'. Mohammad Moin's Persian dictionary, awrah notes two different meanings: nakedness and a young woman. But subsequently Iranians started avoiding word Aurat for 'women' considering the same used to mean 'nakedness' too. In word 'avret' was used more for common married or adult women, where as word hatun was used for more respected women. even their name need not be mentioned but be referred as daughter, sister, wife, mother of so and so. The honor of being izzatdar (honorable) would be reserved for "Aurats" who followed strict Purdah seclusion system along with strict modesty etiquette and also moral codes of chastity demanding strict loyalty to one's own husband. In this social construct by default, an Aurat has to be Pak Aurat (i.e. pure & pious Aurat) and not being so is demeaned as 'Napak (impure/impios Aurat). Another side of the same coin would be those "Aurats" who would not come upon expectations of all the strict social distancing with 'stranger men' of Purdah system, would likely be demeaned and many times punished in various ways considering them to be too independent or shameless.
Hindi language author Rajendra Yadav criticizes limitations of Indian social construct wherein, on one hand, Indian society remembers and respects woman's upper body as a mother - 'Naari' - even to a level of a goddess, but when thinks of lower part sexualizes as Aurat and attempts to control that sexuality.
Objections
Malays debated the appropriateness of the word "Aurat" in the 1930s. Mona Hassan at The Nation has objected to the use of the word due to its etymology, saying south Asian men equate women to honor and shame connecting ultimate reference to woman's breasts and vagina and attempt to control the same as part of their honor other wise they feel shamed, Islamic interpretations and practices widely differ in how much part of Aurat (i.e.Woman) body constitute to be intimate, liberal interpretations limiting to best possible to conservative interpretations can even include woman's voice and social existence, this process of thinking leads to culture of women seclusion from public life and subjugation and violation of their human rights.
According to Anjali Bagwe, in south Asia women are distinguished as "Aurat Jat" (of women caste) in an internalized patriarchal sense which presumes women can't be equal to men and tend to be inferior. Those women who attempt any course other than misogynist patriarchal expectations are labeled stereotyped as 'Napak Aurat' (impious woman) and discriminated against.
In popular culture
An art exhibition of 11 women artists named "Pakistani Aurat Kay Naam" was held in Nomad Art Gallery, on Pakistan's national women's day 12 February 2011.

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