Aditya Banerjee Week 6

Week 6

Aditya Banerjee

The authors in the Article ‘Why Loiter? Radical possibilities for gendered dissent’ reflect upon the idea of women loitering out and connected social realities and perceptions. Loitering around of women in public spaces is still construed as not normal and is often negatively construed by the society. Loitering without a visible purpose is perceived as downright anti-social. On the contrary, the desire to loiter is seen as expanding women’s access and re-envisioning citizenship in more inclusive terms. Furthermore, the authors talk about the inter connection between the quest for pleasure and the struggle against violence. The struggle against violence being fundamentally premised upon exclusion, is maintainable only through violence, and tends to divide people into ‘us’ and ‘them’, sanctioning violence against them to protect us. On the other hand, the quest for pleasure being inclusive in nature, does not divide people. Also, the article focuses upon the women’s access to public spaces in Mumbai. The authors go on arguing that Loitering disrupts the post-feminist assumption of equal access to the public.