Gatekeeping Public Space: Masculinity, Kinship and the Moral Regulation of Women in Nepal

• In Event: Sociology of Sexualities Section Roundtables
  In Refereed Roundtable (60 minute): Table 7: Sexuality and Gender I

Abstract

While previous research has explored gendered violence and hegemonic masculinity in South Asia, few studies have critically unpacked the dual role men play as both protectors and perpetrators within the same moral framework. Drawing on in-depth interviews with 48 men in Kathmandu, this study examines a striking paradox with regards to how Nepali masculinities are constituted in discussions of public sexual harassment against sisters, wives, and daughters versus non-kin women. The findings showed a pattern in which most men blamed women for subtly inviting harassment by their presence, dress, mobility, or perceived autonomy which marked them as morally ambiguous. However, this justificatory framing shifted when participants discussed the experiences of their own female kin, particularly sisters, whom they viewed as “respectable”. This demonstrates affective and moral contradictions in men’s perceptions of harassment. Most of the participants resolved this contradiction by invoking the idea that all women in public should be regarded as didi–bahini (sisters), positioning protection of kin as a moral anchor while harassment of “other” women was normalized or excused. We argue that these distinctions reflect a regime of masculine surveillance rooted in hegemonic masculinity, where protection and harassment simultaneously operate as a paradox. Situating these findings within scholarship on hegemonic masculinity, respectability and protective masculinity, this paper shows how harassment and protection operate as everyday mechanisms of regulating women in public space. This study contributes to a broader feminist critique of protectionist discourse by offering insights into how appeals to protection of women relatives may inadvertently re-inscribe, rather than dismantle, patriarchal power

Authors

• Gita Neupane

• Claire Willey-Sthapit, The University of Kansas