ABSTRACT
This chapter examines gendered representations, including representations of masculinities and femininities, in the "blogosphere" of contemporary Nepal. It looks at the political debates coalescing around two key terms – dalal or pimp and charitraheen or characterless – in the domain of India–Nepal foreign relations, to analyze how masculinities and femininities are represented in new media, including blogs and online magazines. The term dalal signifying the dictionary meanings of both broke and pimp is a word that continues to effect emotionally charged debates, quarrels and sometimes even physical violence in Nepal. Unlike the male leaders, who are often accused of being dalals of India, women leaders of Nepal are frequently charged with being charitraheen, or characterless. While some Nepali intellectuals blame Western nations, especially the United States, for dominating Nepal via its "post-modern" cultural forms, most of them point their fingers at its much closer southern neighbor. s.
