The pursuit of austerity

After the elections to the first CA, most female CA members from the Maoist party turned up in similar outfits: grey suits. Among other things of state importance, their monochrome uniforms were criticized a whole lot too. But few outside their closed circles knew that these uniforms had come out of a deep conviction in simplicity that they had imbibed during their years underground.

“Women wear sindoor to tell the world they are married,” says Smita Dewan, 23, who was a cultural worker during the insurgency. “Do the men wear anything for women? These are just signs of servitude.”

Smita, who was simply dressed in blue jeans, white t-shirt, and no adornments, likened red bangles on the hand to broken handcuffs that continue to chain women.

She was told these things as part of the Maoist political education. But even without it, the emphasis on simplicity was an undercurrent that she and other Whole Timers (WT) always felt, whether directly or indirectly. This was attractive to women because it was one way of asserting equality: no one would be favoured on account of physical appearance; the emphasis would be on the work they did, not how they looked.

Smita felt that the time women spent on appearances put them at a disadvantage compared to men who did not have to bother with these things. “If I see women spending too much time on makeup, I invariably think they could be doing something more productive with their time,” says Smita.

So a unisex look was one way of gaining equality.

“We felt that these things just didn’t suit us. We were out to change the society. We felt that we should set an example for the rest of the society. How could we be bogged down by such petty things?” says Sharada, 35, who was a political worker during the insurgency and continues to be one. Even before she became a WT, she had the impression that Maoists were a different breed of people who were not bothered by society’s emphasis on appearances.

Amrita Thapa, 42, a veteran leader, remembers that at one point, she and other women had decided to cut their hair short because it was too much of a bother. Amrita continues to sport short hair and many famous Maoist leaders are identified by their pageboy hairstyle. Even today, most women actively involved in the Maoist party are very simply adorned: short hair, no makeup, and barely any jewellery. Some of them wear a simple bangle or a sindoor, or a pote, but no more.

Within the Maoist party, the austere attitude to beauty also extended to romance and sex, which was very attractive to many women. Sharada is one of them.

“When we lived and worked with men, they looked at us with a kind of respect. We were proud of it,” she remembers. She is glad to remember that even if a man and a woman had to share a room, there were no “negative” feelings from men; instead, there was a regard like between brothers and sisters.

Many other women have echoed the feeling that they felt “safe” with their male colleagues during the insurgency, that they were bound by “class fellow-feeling” which surpassed romantic attractions. Marriages had to be sanctioned by party seniors.

Anoopam, 32, is a veteran of more than 40 encounters. She had once been married, and when her first husband passed away, was persuaded by her party and friends to marry again for the sake of support and good future.

“I wasn’t really willing to marry,” she recounts, “but since everyone encouraged me, I agreed.” She informs that it is not enough that you like a person, nor is it enough for the party seniors to think two people are well matched. But both factors are important for two people to get married.

Probably coming from a society where they had to fend off unwanted romantic attention from every second man, women found this environment to be a relief. They believed that even love should be within boundaries, nothing overboard. In fact, many women remember with fondness that any ‘sanskritik bichalan; which included activities like unsanctioned romances and affairs, were strictly regulated.

Here, one has to remember that the women who became Maoists came from many different castes. While some of them, like Brahmins and Chhetris, are known to emphasize on sexual purity and austerity—especially for women – others are known to be more permissive. Premarital sex, marriage after conception, or multiple marriages are not unknown among Janajatis, giving women more autonomy and control over their life-course.

Seira Tamang, writing for Feminist Review (2009), states that “From Hindu high-caste women (including Madhesi women) sequestered in the private sphere, to the Thakali women renowned for their business acumen and skills, to Limbu women who are free to divorce and remarry as widows, women and men in various communities in Nepal have historically structured their relations very differently.”

And yet, these multiple values, developed organically over thousands of years among different ethnic groups, had been subsumed by the dominant values of austerity, and enforced through “discipline, rules and regulations” within the Maoist party. Youngsters like Smita who had known the party values since a young age have little memory of alternate values regarding marriage and women’s place in their community.

Thus, the values of austerity have shaped a whole generation of women who identify themselves as Maoists. While on the one hand, enforcing the beauty cult and placing high value on the surfacial beauty of women has been known to harm women, and is a detrimental social value that needs to be discouraged. On the other hand, the emphasis on shedding these qualities meant that women had to leave traditional concepts of femininity and identity behind.

The worth of women as persons was being defined by male standards: They were only good enough if they aspired to be like ideal men who did not pay attention to appearances. Instead of women exploring and balancing their femininity and finding their own niche, the values of austerity were mass-marketed. The ostensible purpose is to encourage values like equality and morality, but it remains to be seen what the loss of multiple values will have on society in the long term.