Mahima Sharma Week 6

‘Why loiter? Radical possibilities for gendered dissent’ written by Shilpa Phadke, Shikpa Ranade and Sameera khan, talks about women and their right to feel safe in public spaces and how the concept of loiter is only given to the males of the society. The writer also points out that loiter itself is not considered being something good as according to its definition it means wandering on streets aimlessly but here, she demands that the right should be given to both men and women equally. The class difference that the writer mentions here is related to an aspect that we notice in our society as well where women considered subaltern traveling in public transport or roaming around streets are looked upon and are under constant surveillance and harassed by men compared to women who are travelling in their own private cars or loitering outside stores or in the malls. The issue that the writer brings to light is the fact that as we notice women all over the world raise their voices for violence against women, rape, equal rights abuse and harassment but no one speaks about the simple aspect of day to day activities where women are deprived of such as loitering to have a sense of belonging in the city. The concept of loitering creates a question of binaries who is allowed to loiter and who is not? This article sums up and negotiates issues that women from different classes and communities encounter on a daily basis.