‘Scooty Girls’: Mobility and Intimacy at the Margins of Kathmandu

Adolescent Movements: Dating, Elopements, and Youth Policing in Ladakh, India

“…It is the urban middle-and upper-class youth who have access to cars, motorcycles, and cell phones. Similar to what Brunson and Davis describe in Kathmandu, mobility is gendered, whether it is young 'scooty girls' escaping the confines of neighbourhood surveillance (Brunson 2013) or the calculated movements Gudiya made when she married a foreigner (Davis 2013). The increasing mobility of women in Ladakh can be seen not only in centralised public sites -such as at bus stands and the Main Bazaars of Leh and Kargil -but also in the growth of women drivers.…”

“…because margins are sites where gender norms can be undone and remade (Butler 1990;Tsing 1993;Ortner 1996;Aggarwal 2004;Das & Poole 2004;Brunson 2013). Sexuality can function as a form of discipline, where knowledge and discourse not only generate specific ideas about sexuality (i.e.…”

“…Dating is kept secret in Ladakh, though certain public sites -such as forests -can give privacy to girls without being scandalous (Brunson 2013). As Fatima, a 29-year-old Muslim woman explained: 'They go to a friend's house when the parents aren't there.…”

“…630 -649) in immoral practices and restore moral order through the following activities: protecting children from drugs, shutting down bars, settling disputes, intercepting inter-religious couples, and preventing and punishing those involved in prostitution and extramarital affairs (Aggarwal 2002). Policing sexuality is intended to protect the moral virtue of a particular community or group, whether it is the virtue of an Ecuadorian community that is threatened by a brothel opening or the virtue of young Nepali 'scooty' girls (Brunson 2013;Friederic 2013). In Ladakh, prostitution is thought to reflect the increased materialism of Ladakhis who have excessive desires for 'modern' goods.…”

“…Similarly, the higher mobility of Buddhist girls means that intermarriage -typically that of a Buddhist girl and Muslim boy -traverses both a cultural and a religious divide. For women, driving is a notable form of liberation, which not only allows them access to a sphere that had previously been male-controlled but also offers women privacy (Brunson 2013). Cell phones also enable a kind of mobility that would have been previously unimaginable -where youth can privately send text messages rather than meeting in more public and socially risky settings.…”