Why Loiter? Radical Possibilities for gendered dissent
The authors begin by challenging the narrowness of the pre-existing
discourse with respect to emancipating women from patriarchal burdens, in that
the focus is on protecting women against
domestic violence, rape, and other crimes. This positions women as victims, narrativizing
said emancipation in paternalistic terms. Rather, emancipation must be oriented
around normalizing basic liberties, including loitering. Loitering, as a small
act pursuing pleasure, in itself is presently a rebellious act for women.
However, to orient feminism to include the pursuit of pleasure, including normalizing loitering,
would dilute paternalism, and make it a movement legitimizing and empowering
women’s claims to public spaces with dignity.
Based on extensive research in Mumbai, the authors explain
the prevalent complexities of women’s access to public spaces, in that not
only are public spaces presently hubs of masculinity, but also that there are
discrepancies in access across different classes, castes, and such demographics. First, while men have a natural claim to public spaces, women have to maintain
certain demeanours and mannerisms to justify their intrusions in public spaces. Second, an instance of the latter
intersectionality is as upper-class women seem to be entitled to loiter
in public spaces, even more so than men of lower classes, whereas the rest of
women are more vulnerable. In their work, sex-workers are the only major
exception to the boundaries in loitering, but they do not reflect the status of
women in general. Normalizing loitering, therefore, is a subtle, but important way
to make public spaces non-patriarchal.
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